Putnam's  Xtbrars 
StanfcarD  Xiterature 


THE    NATURAL    HISTORY    AND 
ANTIQUITIES  OF  SELBORNE 


THE 

NATURAL     HISTORY 

AND  ANTIQUITIES  OF 

SELBORNE 

BY 

GILBERT  WHITE 

EDITED,     WITH    AN    INTRODUCTION    AND    NOTES    BY 

L.  C.   MIALL,    F.R.S.,  AND    W.  WARDE    FOWLER,   M.A. 


... 


NEW  YORK  :    G.    P.    PUTNAM'S    SONS 

LONDON:    METHUEN    &    CO, 

1901 


ERRATA 

P.  ix,  last  line.      Gilbert  White  was  not  born  at  the  Wakes,  but  at  Selborne 

Vicarage. 
P.  xii,  line  17.     The  verses  were  written  by  another  Hester  Mulso,  the  niece  of 

Mrs.  Chapone. 

P.  xii,  line  27.     Dele.  "as".     Line  28.     For  "also  as"  read  "as  also". 
P.  70,  note  2.     For  "beneath  which,  etc."  read  "between  which,  etc." 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

PREFACE v 

INTRODUCTION  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .  ix 

REDUCED  FACSIMILE  OF  ORIGINAL  TITLE  PAGE  .        opposite  xxxvi 
ADVERTISEMENT  TO  ORIGINAL  EDITION      ....  xxxix 

THE  NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  SELBORNE       .         .         .         .1 

THE  ANTIQUITIES  OF  SELBORNE          .  ...  237 


INTRODUCTION. 

i 

Sections  I. -III.  of  this  Introduction  are  by  L.  C.  MIALL  ;  Section  IV.  by 
W.  WARDE  FOWLER. 

I.— GILBERT   WHITE.1 

THE  events  of  Gilbert  White's  life  are  not  striking.  He  was 
born  at  Selborne,  in  1720,  being  the  son  of  a  banister  and 
country  gentleman,  John  White,  and  Anne  Holt,  daughter 
of  Thomas  Holt,  rector  of  Streatham.  His  grandfather, 
Gilbert  White  (1650-1728),  had  been  vicar  of  Selborne. 
"This  Gilbert  White  was  apparently  a  well-to-do  man,  for 
he  left  considerable  bequests  to  the  village,  and  doubtless 
inherited  wealth  from  his  father,  who  had  been  an  eminent 
citizen  of  Oxford  in  the  time  of  Cromwell.  Sampson  White, 
whom  we  may  call  the  founder  of  the  family,  was  a  draper  in 
the  High  Street ;  he  had  migrated  to  the  city  from  Coggs, 
near  Witney,  where  his  family  had  been  settled  for  many 
generations.  He  was  mayor  in  1660,  served  as  '  butler  of 
the  beer-cellar'  at  the  coronation  of  Charles  II.,  and  was 
knighted  among  many  others  at  that  gay  time." 2  About  a 
year  after  the  naturalist's  birth  his  parents  removed  to  Comp- 
ton,  near  Guildford,  returning  to  Selborne,  however,  some  ten 
years  later.  John  White  died  there  in  1758,  his  wife  in 
1739.  The  Wakes,3  the  house  in  which  the  naturalist  was 

1  Bell's  memoir,  and  other  parts  of  his  edition  of  White's  Selborne  (2  vols.  8vo, 
1877),  contain  a  pretty  full  account  of  the  life  of  Gilbert  White,  which  has  been 
freely  drawn  upon  for  this  sketch.     Some  interesting  facts  and  suggestions  have 
been  taken  from  Mr.  Warde  Fowler's  "Gilbert  White  of  Selborne"  (Macmillan's 
Magazine  for  July,  1893,  reprinted  in  Summer  Studies  of  Birds  and  Books).     A 
full  and  very  careful  Life  by  Prof.  Alfred  Newton  has  lately  appeared  in  the  Dic- 
tionary of  National  Biography. 

2  Warde  Fowler,  Summer  Studies  of  Birds  and  Books,  p.  207. 

3  Named  after  one  Wake,  a  former  owner  of  the  land. 


x  INTRODUCTION 

born,  and  where  he  spent  the  last  thirty-five  years  of  his  life, 
was  built  by  Gilbert  White,  the  vicar  of  Selborne,  bequeathed 
to  his  son-in-law,  the  Rev.  Charles  White,  and  by  him  to 
Gilbert  White,  the  naturalist,  his  nephew  by  marriage. 

Gilbert  White,  the  naturalist,  was  the  eldest  of  eleven 
children,  three  of  whom  died  in  infancy.  Those  of  his 
brothers  and  sisters  who  are  in  any  degree  memorable,  either 
for  what  they  did,  or  for  their  close  association  with  the 
naturalist,  were : — 

(1)  Thomas  Holt  (1724-1797),  who  made  a  fortune  as  a 
London  ironmonger,  and  wrote  papers  on  natural  history, 
particularly  on  the  trees  of  Great  Britain.     He  was  elected 
to  the  Royal  Society  in  1777. 

(2)  Benjamin    (1725-1794),    a    London    bookseller,    who 
brought  out  the  History  of  Selborne^  besides   most  of  the 
works  of  Ellis,  Pennant,  Montagu,  and  other  English  natur- 
alists ;  he  succeeded  Gilbert  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  estate 
at  Selborne. 

(3)  Rebecca  (b.  1726),  married  to  Henry  Woods,  of  Shop- 
wyke,  near  Chichester. 

(4)  John  (1727-1781),  who  was  chaplain  at  Gibraltar,  and 
after  1772  vicar  of  Blackburn   in    Lancashire.      He  corre- 
sponded with  Linnaeus  about  the  animals  of  Andalusia,  and 
wrote  a  Natural  History  of  Gibraltar +  which  did  not,  however, 
get  into  print.     Gilbert  White 1  calls  him   "  a  very  exact 
observer,"  and  often  cites  him  as  an  authority. 

(5)  Ann  (b.  1731),  who  married  Thomas  Barker,  and  had 
a   son   Samuel  and  three   daughters,   who   often    appear  in 
Gilbert  Whitens  correspondence. 

(6)  Henry  (1733-1788),  who  became  rector  of  Fyfield,  and 
took  pupils  there.     He  kept  meteorological  observations,  no 
doubt  at  Gilbert's  request,  for  comparison  with  those  made 
at  Selborne.     Thomas  White  at  South  Lambeth,  and  Thomas 
Barker  (Gilbert  White's  brother-in-law)  at  Lyndon,  in  Rut- 
land, did  the  same.      Extracts  from  Henry  White's  Diary 
have  been  printed  in  Notes  on  the  Parishes  of  Fyfield.,  etc., 
by  E.  D.  Webb  (Salisbury,  1898). 

i  Letter  XIV. 


INTRODUCTION  xi 

Gilbert  was  sent  to  school  at  Basingstoke,  where  his  master 
was  the  Rev.  Thomas  Warton,  father  of  Joseph  and  Thomas 
Warton,  who  still  hold  places  in  English  literary  history.  In 
December,  1739,  he  was  admitted  a  commoner  of  Oriel  College, 
Oxford,  where  he  became  fellow  in  1744.  He  took  holy  orders 
in  1747. 

Mr.  Warde  Fowler  remarks  that  "  as  a  Fellow  he  [Gilbert 
White]  was  of  course  ordained,  and  later  on  he  took  a  small 
college  living  in  Northamptonshire  [Moreton  Pinckney] ;  but 
he  took  it  on  the  understanding  that  he  should  never  reside 
there,  and  to  this  resolution,  which  in  these  days  seems  shock- 
ing, he  steadily  adhered  all  his  life.  I  do  not  wish  to  dwell 
on  this,  or  on  his  other  relations  to  his  college,  which  were 
not  wholly  of  a  pleasant  character ;  but  Oxford  men  are  aware 
that  a  non-resident  who  insists  on  his  right  to  take  his  turn 
as  Proctor,  or  who  holds  his  Fellowship  for  fifty  years,  is  not 
likely  to  be  popular  with  his  college." l  We  have  to  admit 
that  for  fifty  years  White  steadily  refused  all  preferment  that 
would  vacate  his  fellowship,  and  though  he  held  curacies 
(Swarraton,  Selborne,  Durley,  Selborne  again,  Farringdon, 
Selborne  a  third  -time)  he  passed  the  bulk  of  his  life  in  a 
somewhat  indolent  comfort  at  the  old  family  house  in  Selborne. 

We  must  not  judge  Gilbert  White  by  the  standard  of  work 
which  is  now  set  in  Church  and  University.  In  the.  eighteenth 
century  it  was  enough  for  the  parson  to  lead  a  decent  life,  to 
conform  to  the  rules  of  good  society,  and  to  meet  the  statu- 
tory claims  upon  his  time.  White  lost  nothing  in  the  esteem 
of  his  parishioners  by  living  like  a  squire  of  small  fortune. 
Neither  he  nor  they  thought  it  a  duty  to  multiply  Church 
services,  or  to  abstain  from  the  usual  diversions  of  the  country 
gentleman.  He  was  attentive  to  his  set  duties,  a  good  neigh- 
bour, a  kind  master,  and  a  friend  to  the  poor.  It  was  re- 
marked as  a  sentiment  of  his  "  that  a  clergyman  should  not 
be  idle  and  unemployed  ".  If  he  was  content,  for  the  love  of 
Selborne  and  lettered  ease,  to  give  up  all  hopes  of  preferment, 
that  was,  in  the  view  of  his  contemporaries,  his  own  affair. 
Even  strict  judges,  born  in  a  later  and  less  indulgent  age, 

1  Summer  Studies  of  Birds  and  Books,  p.  210. 


xii  INTRODUCTION 

will  not  place  Gilbert  White  in  the  common  herd  of  non- 
resident fellows,  non-resident  parsons,  holders  of  sinecures, 
and  pensioners  who  had  never  served.  Late  in  life  he  gave 
the  world  assurance  that  he  was  not  only  one  of  the  keenest 
and  surest  of  naturalists,  but  also  a  charming  writer  of  English. 
It  was  by  no  dull  and  formal  piece  of  scholarship  that  he  re- 
paid the  debt  imposed  upon  him  by  the  long  tenure  of  a 
college  fellowship  and  a  college  living,  but  by  a  masterpiece, 
now  to  be  counted  among  those  possessions  of  the  English 
race  which  are  above  price. 

White  never  married.  It  has  been  conjectured  that  he 
was  attached,  perhaps  engaged,  to  Hester  Mulso,  the  sister 
of  an  old  college  friend.  Hester  Mulso,  once  widely  known 
as  Mrs.  Chapone,  was  a  blue-stocking,  and  a  notable  friend  of 
virtue  in  young  ladies.  Her  literary  parties  are  described  by 
Fanny  Burney,  who  thought  that  they  would  be  prodigiously 
mended  by  a  little  rattling.  Her  verses  to  Gilbert  White's 
tortoise,  Timothy,  suggested  the  amusing  letter  from  "  your 
sorrowful  reptile,"  which  is  to  be  found  in  Whitens  correspon- 
dence. In  thje  long  series  of  letters  from  John  Mulso  to  White, 
Professor  Newton  finds  no  confirmation  of  the  story  of  an 
attachment  between  White  and  Hester  Mulso. 

It  is  not  likely  that  we  shall  ever  know  what  made  a 
naturalist  of  Gilbert  White.  Was  it  some  school-fellow  at 
Basingstoke  ?  Was  it  the  example  of  Dr.  Stephen  Hales, 
who  among  other  livings  held  that  of  Farringdon,  the  next 
parish  to  Selborne,  and  was  as  well  known  to  Gilbert  White 
also  as  to  his  father  and  grandfather?  In  Letter  X.  to 
Pennant,  White  says :  "  It  has  been  my  misfortune  never  to 
have  had  any  neighbours  whose  studies  have  led  them  towards 
the  pursuit  of  natural  knowledge;  so  that,  for  want  of  a 
companion  to  quicken  my  industry  and  sharpen  my  attention, 
I  have  made  but  slender  progress  in  a  kind  of  information  to 
which  I  have  been  attached  from  my  childhood ".  Yet  his 
brothers,  two  of  them  more  particularly,  were  fond  of  natural 
history,  so  that,  but  for  this  express  statement,  we  should 
have  been  ready  to  suppose  that  the  taste  ran  in  the  family. 
With  English  squires  and  parsons  natural  history  links  on  to 
field-sports  and  planting.  White  and  some  of  his  elders  seem 


INTRODUCTION  xiii 

to  have  been  fond  of  both  pursuits,  though  their  opportunities 
were  limited.  Books  cannot  have  helped  him  much.  There 
were,  it  is  true,  Willughby  and  Ray,  but,  to  say  nothing  of 
the  Latin  in  which  many  of  their  works  were  written,  they 
were  fitter  to  satisfy  than  to  excite  curiosity.  In  White's 
youth  there  was  nothing  in  the  least  like  the  Natural  History 
of  Selborne,  but  only  dry  treatises  and  collections  of  mar- 
vellous tales,  little  better  than  the  bestiaries  of  the  dark 
ages. 

White's  notes,  many  of  which  are  preserved  in  manuscript 
in  the  British  Museum,  were  written  down  at  short  intervals, 
while  the  circumstances  were  fresh.  They  were  often  copied 
into  private  letters;  they  formed  the  groundwork  of  his 
published  papers,  and  in  the  end  they  yielded  the  best  part 
of  the  Natural  History  of  Selborne.  From  1768  onwards 
White  recorded  his  observations  in  the  Naturalists  Journal 
(London:  Printed  for  W.  Sandby,  in  Fleet  St.,  MDCCLXVII). 
His  copy  of  the  first  year's  journal  is  marked  :  "  Gil.  White, 
1768.  The  gift  of  the  Honourable  Mr.  Barrington  the  In- 
venter.  The  Insects  are  named  according  to  Linnaeus :  the 
plants  according  to  the  sexual  system :  the  birds  according  to 
Ray.'1  In  1771  and  following  years  the  Naturalists  Journal 
is  marked  as  "  Printed  by  Benjamin  White,  at  Horace's 
Head,  in  Fleet  Street "  (no  date).  The  later  issues  have  an 
engraved  instead  of  a  letterpress  title-page.  White  some- 
times ruled  his  own  books,  or  if  he  returned  to  Barrington's 
form,  wrote  across  many  of  the  columns.  The  diaries,  of 
which  there  are  six  bound  volumes,  are  now  in  the  British 
Museum,  having  been  purchased  of  the  Rev.  G.  Taylor  in 
1881.  It  was  from  them  that  Dr.  Aikin  compiled  the 
Naturalises  Calendar  and  the  Observations  on  Various  Parts 
of  Nature. 

It  is  characteristic  of  Gilbert  White  that  he  takes  little 
note  of  the  progress  made  by  natural  history  in  his  own  life- 
time. It  was  the  age  of  Linnaeus,  and  White  cannot  be 
reproached  with  inattention  to  him  at  least.  But  the  reader 
of  his  published  and  private  letters  might  fail  to  be  reminded 
that  Buffon  and  Reaumur  and  De  Geer  were  then  writing 
their  histories,  that  John  Hunter  was  dissecting  and  making 


xiv  INTRODUCTION 

experiments,  that  the  British  Museum  and  the  Botanic 
Gardens  at  Kew  were  being  set  up,  or  that  Cook's  voyages 
were  making  known  the  natural  productions  of  another 
hemisphere.  Some  of  these  tokens  of  scientific  activity  are 
passed  over  altogether ;  others  are  slightly  mentioned  ;  upon 
none  of  them  does  White  dwell  repeatedly  and  with  interest. 

White's  education  in  natural  history,  so  far  as  it  was  a 
matter  of  books,  consisted  mainly  in  the  study  of  Ray  and 
Linnaeus.  Swammerdam  he  quotes  in  one  or  two  places,  but 
he  shows  no  general  acquaintance  with  the  Biblia  Natures. 
Reaumur  and  De  Geer  were,  for  some  reason  that  we  can  only 
guess  at,  inaccessible  to  him.  In  a  letter  of  1774  he  says, 
"  I  wish  I  could  read  Reaumur  and  De  Geer ".  Two  years 
later  we  have  him  getting  Reaumur's  account  of  Hippobosca 
transcribed  for  his  own  use.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that 
White  was  unable  to  read  the  French  of  Reaumur  and  De 
Geer;  he  means  that  their  works  were  not  to  be  had  in 
Selborne.  Yet  so  many  copies  of  Reaumur's  Histoire  des 
Insectes  had  been  printed  (it  is  still  a  very  common  book), 
that  the  difficulty  of  studying  his  writings  is  not  quite  in- 
telligible. De  Geer's  great  work  may  well  have  been  hard  to 
get  at  in  1774,  but  one  would  have  thought  it  worth  the 
trouble.  White  died  in  almost  complete  ignorance  of  the 
discoveries  of  these  great  naturalists.  Leeuwenhoeck  and 
Malpighi  he  never  names ;  their  work  was  largely  anatomical 
and  microscopic,  and  White  was  not  trained  in  either  method.1 
Nor  does  he  seem  to  have  known  Buffon,  who  could  have  told 
him  that  the  noctule  had  already  been  described.  It  is 
probable  that  the  poet  Gray,  and  others  who  gained  no  fame 
as  naturalists,  were  much  better  read  in  zoology  than  Gilbert 
White.  His  knowledge  of  plants  was  slight,  and  we  find  in 
his  books  or  letters  few  references  to  the  great  development 
of  scientific  botany  which  took  place  during  his  lifetime, 
though  he  was  deeply  impressed  with  the  systematic  work  of 
Linnaeus.  Ray,  Willughby,  Hudson  and  Linnaeus  taught 

1  In  a  Better  of  November  15,  1775,  he  derides  the  microscope.  "  O  fie !  for  so 
young  a  man  to  use  glasses  that  magnify  two  hundred  times,  when  Linnaeus 
planned  and  perfected  his  whole  sexual  system  nudis  oculis. "  But  eight  years  later 
(Letter  to  Churton,  August  20,  1783)  he  bids  his  correspondent  apply  a  magnifying 
glass  to  Nostoc  and  "  try  to  discover  the  seeds". 


INTRODUCTION  xv 

him  to  name  many  of  his  beasts,  birds,  insects  and  flowers, 
and  thus  furnished  he  turns  to  the  work  in  which  his  real 
strength  lay,  to  what  he  calls  (October  31,  1777)  "true 
natural  history,  because  it  abounds  with  anecdote  and  cir- 
cumstance," the  natural  history  which  seeks  above  all  to  study 
the  animals  and  plants  that  we  have  about  us  as  living*  things. 
"  Learn  as  much  as  possible  the  manners  of  animals,"  he  writes 
to  his  brother  John  ;  "  they  are  worth  a  ream  of  descriptions." 

In  the  Natural  History  of  Selborne  White  frequently 
quotes  or  makes  use  of  the  following  books: — 

Linnaeus,  Systema  Natures;  Linnaeus,  Synopsis  Stirpium ; 
Ray,  Synopsis  Methodica  Avium  et  Pisdum;  Ray,  The  Wis- 
dom of  God  Manifested  in  the  Works  of  the  Creation ;  Ray, 
Select  Remains  of,  with  his  life,  by  the  late  W.  Derham  ;  Ray, 
Historia  Insectorum  ,*  Hudson,  Flora  Anglica ;  Derham, 
Physico-Theology ;  Scopoli,  Anni  Historico-Naturales ;  Stil- 
lingfleet,  Miscellaneous  Tracts  relating  to  Natural  History ; 
Pennant,  British  Zoology ;  Hales,  Statical  Essays ;  Willughby, 
Ornithology ;  Geoffroy,  Histoire  des  Insectes. 

Whenever  he  wished  to  decorate  a  letter  with  quotations, 
Virgil,  Milton  and  the  Bible  seem  to  have  come  first  into  his 
thoughts.  Chance  quotations  show  that  he  had  read  more 
widely  at  some  time,  but  without  keeping  up  (we  suppose) 
any  great  familiarity  with  the  majority  of  his  authors.  All 
the  books  which  were  essential  to  the  Natural  History  of 
Selborne  would  have  gone  into  a  single  shelf. 

Three  of  White's  correspondents  are  very  particularly 
associated  with  the  History  and  Antiquities  of  Selborne. 
These  are  Thomas  Pennant,  the  Hon.  Daines  Barrington, 
and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Chandler. 

Thomas  Pennant  (1726-98)  was  a  country  gentleman  of 
Downing,  near  Holywell,  in  Flintshire.  His  character  and 
methods  are  sufficiently  delineated  in  The  Literary  Life  of 
the  late  Thomas  Pennant,  Esq.,  by  Himself  (London,  4to, 
1793),  not  a  posthumous,  but  as  he  styles  it  a  "post-existent 
performance".  It  relates  the  career  of  a  man  of  boundless 
activity  and  much  self-esteem.  He  tells  how  he  got  a  taste 
for  natural  history  at  the  age  of  twelve  by  reading  Willughby's 
Ornithology,  searched  Cornwall  for  minerals,  wrote  an  account 


xvi  INTEODUCTION 

of  an  earthquake  which  got  printed  among  other  narratives 
of  the  same  kind  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions,  described 
fossils  and  corals  from  Coalbrookdale,  and  corresponded  with 
Linnaeus.  In  1761  he  began  to  publish  the  British  Zoology, 
which  gave  what  was  then  considered  to  be  a  fair  account  of 
most  of  the  groups  of  British  animals,  the  insects,  however, 
being  left  out  altogether.  Many  other  books  followed  :  Tours 
in  Scotland,  A  Tour  in  Wales,  A  History  of  Quadrupeds, 
Arctic  Zoology,  London,  etc.  Some  of  his  books  went  through 
several  editions,  and  he  was  one  of  the  most  successful  writers 
of  the  age.  Opinions  differed  as  to  their  value.  Percy  ran 
down  his  descriptions,  and  declared  that  "  a  carrier,  who  goes 
along  the  side  of  Loch  Lomond,  would  describe  it  better". 
Johnson  defended  Pennant  vigorously.  "  He's  a  Whig,  sir,  a 
sad  dog,  but  he's  the  best  traveller  I  ever  read."  A  hundred 
years  later  one  is  obliged  to  admit  that  Pennant's  merits  were 
only  moderate.  He  was  not  enough  of  a  zoologist  to  write 
books  on  zoology,  and  the  gap  left  by  the  death  of  John 
Ray  was  first  filled  to  some  extent  by  George  Montagu  in 
zoology,  as  by  Sir  J.  E.  Smith  in  botany.  Some  of  Pen- 
nant's books  on  natural  history  are  readable ;  others  are  not ; 
both  kinds  are  mainly  compilations  from  Linnaeus,  Buffon, 
Pallas  and  other  writers.  His  topographical  books  are  the 
offhand  productions  of  an  inquisitive  man,  who  loved  riding 
about  the  country,  and  wrote  with  ease. 

White  had  no  great  love  for  Pennant.  He  seems  in  the 
correspondence  to  complain  of  Pennant's  stinginess  and  un- 
gentlemanly  behaviour  to  his  brother  John.  Bell,  in  his 
edition  of  White's  Selborne?  says  much  about  Pennant's  use 
of  White's  information  without  acknowledgment.  Yet  in 
the  British  Zoology2  Pennant  announces  his  debt.  In  the 
Synopsis,  however  (1771),  and  the  History  of  Quadrupeds 
(1781)  the  noctule  and  the  harvest-mouse  are  included  with- 
out mention  of  Gilbert  White.  I  do  not  observe  that  White 
resented  this  treatment.  Our  present  usage  in  the  matter  of 
acknowledgment  was  not  then  firmly  established.  Linnaeus 
is  very  careless  about  it,  and  White  himself  never  mentions 

*Vol.  i.,  p.  xli. 

28vo  ed.,  1768 ;  see  Preface,  p.  xiii,  Appendix,  p.  498. 


INTRODUCTION  xvii 

by  name  Dr.  Chandler,  to  whom  he  was  under  great  obliga- 
tions in  his  account  of  the  antiquities  of  Selbome. 

To  Pennant,  as  a  man  who  had  the  ear  of  the  public,  and 
was  the  best-known  English  zoologist  of  the  day,  Gilbert 
White  communicated  his  discoveries  and  observations.  His 
first  letters  to  Pennant  (beginning  with  Letter  X.)  were 
written  without  any  intention  of  independent  publication. 
When  he  collected  these  and  others  into  a  book,  he  not  only 
retained  Pennant's  name,  but  addressed  to  him  additional 
letters,  which  had  been  written  to  complete  the  history.  The 
first  forty-four  letters  profess  to  be  letters  to  Pennant,  but 
only  those  which  bear  a  date  were  actually  sent  by  the  post. 

The  Hon.  Daines  Barrington  (1727-1800),  to  whom  the 
rest  of  the  letters  in  the  Natural  History  of  Selborne  were 
addressed,  was  a  son  of  the  first  Viscount  Barrington.  He 
entered  at  the  Bar,  and  became  a  Welsh  judge.  His  Obser- 
vations on  the  Statutes  are  said  to  contain  much  curious 
information,  which  has  been  ransacked  by  writers  on  juris- 
prudence. He  edited  (very  badly)  King  Alfred's  Orosius. 
But  his  chief  contributions  to  knowledge  related  to  natural 
history  and  kindred  subjects. 

If  the  reader  should  happen  to  come  across  the  quarto 
volume  of  Miscellanies,  by  the  Hon.  Daines  Barrington 
(London,  1781,  pp.  558  and  viii),  he  will  easily  learn  from  it 
a  good  deal  respecting  White's  favourite  correspondent,  and 
also  something  about  the  state  of  natural  history  in  England 
when  the  History  of'  Selborne  was  preparing  for  the  press. 

The  early  pages  are  occupied  by  "  Tracts  on  the  Possibility 
of  Reaching  the  North  Pole  ".  Instances  are  quoted  of  sea- 
captains  who  got  within  2°,  1°  and  even  307  of  the  Pole, 
which  leads  the  modern  reader  to  conclude  that  old  log-books 
may  be  very  untrustworthy.  One  result  of  the  information 
respecting  the  polar  regions  which  he  brought  together  was 
that  the  Royal  Society  applied  to  the  Admiralty  for  an 
Arctic  expedition.  The  request  was  granted,  and  Captain 
Phipps  was  sent  out  in  1773.  The  expedition  returned  the 
same  year,  having  reached  a  latitude  of  80*5°,  a  very  moderate 
success  if  Barrington's  expectations  had  been  just.  The  essay 
on  the  Turkey  seeks  to  prove  that,  though  the  bird  was 
b 


xviii  INTRODUCTION 

indigenous  to  Virginia,  it  was  not  peculiar  to  America,  and 
first  reached  Europe  from  Asia.  The  account  of  the  Rein- 
deer collects  many  miscellaneous  observations  from  books, 
and  notes  some  facts  respecting  a  reindeer  which  was  kept 
three  years  at  Homerton.  The  essay  on  the  "  Bat  or  Rere- 
Mouse"  owes  all  its  interest  to  some  observations  on  the 
hibernation  of  bats,  communicated  by  Mr.  Cornish,  a  surgeon 
of  Totness ;  the  rest  is  taken  from  Pennant  and  other  authors, 
and  indirectly  brings  in  some  of  White's  information,  which 
had  been  communicated  to  Pennant's  British  Zoology.  There 
is  also  the  well-known  essay  on  the  "Periodical  Appearing 
and  Disappearing  of  Certain  Birds  at  Different  Times  of 
the  Year,"  which  is  here  reprinted,  with  additions,  from 
the  Philosophical  Transactions.  He  admits  that  periodical 
migrations  may  take  place  from  one  part  of  a  continent  to 
another,  or  even  across  a  narrow  strait,  but  it  seems  to  him 
highly  improbable  that  birds  should  traverse  seas  and  oceans. 
He  criticises  the  accounts  of  Adanson  and  Wager,  and  de- 
fends the  theory  of  winter- torpidity,  though  he  owns  that 
he  had  never  seen  birds  in  the  torpid  state.  He  quotes  from 
White's  Letter  VIII.1  the  observations  that  woodcocks  pair 
before  they  retire,  and  that  the  hens  are  then  forward  with 
egg ;  also  from  Letter  VII.  the  mention  of  the  migration  of 
the  ring-ousel.  An  essay  on  the  torpidity  of  the  swallow 
tribe  follows,  in  which  White's  Letter  XXXVI.  first  appeared 
in  print.  Another  essay  contains  Barrington's  sceptical 
thoughts  upon  the  common  belief  that  the  cuckoo  neither 
hatches  nor  rears  its  young,  which  he  finds  to  take  its  rise  in 
a  passage  of  Aristotle.  It  may  be  that  some  of  the  cases 
quoted,  in  which  the  cuckoo  is  said  to  have  hatched  and  fed 
her  own  young,  are  well-founded.  White's  Letter  XXIV.  is 
rather  awkwardly  introduced  into  this  essay.  Then  we  have 
a  weak  and  petulant  criticism  of  the  Linnaean  system.  Bar- 
rington  would  have  what  White  calls  the  "  life  and  conversa- 
tion "  of  animals  more  attended  to.  To  give  a  better  idea 
of  his  meaning,  he  refers  to  White's  letters  on  the  British 
swallows.  White  himself  never  disparaged  system,  though  he 

1  The  numbers  refer  to  the  letters  to  Barrington  in  the  History  of  Selborne. 


INTRODUCTION  xix 

was  so  intent  upon  the  study  of  live  natural  history.  More 
than  once  in  his  correspondence  he  dwells  upon  the  necessity 
of  a  systematic  foundation  for  work  that  is  meant  to  last. 
Thus,  writing  to  his  brother  John  (May  26,  1770),  he  says : 
"I  am  glad  you  begin  to  relish  Linnaeus;  there  is  nothing 
to  be  done  in  the  wide,  boundless  field  of  natural  history 
without  system,"  and  other  passages  to  the  same  effect  might 
be  quoted.  Several  very  interesting  accounts  of  remarkable 
young  musicians  are  to  be  found  in  the  Miscellanies.  Bar- 
rington had  personally  witnessed  and  critically  examined  the 
early  performances  of  Mozart,  Charles  and  Samuel  Wesley, 
and  Crotch.  His  anecdotes  have  often  been  drawn  upon  by 
later  writers. 

These  are  the  best  things  which  the  naturalist  finds  in 
Barrington's  Miscellanies.  He  also  contributed  to  the  Philo- 
sophical Transactions  a  number  of  papers  which  were  never 
collected.  The  chief  of  these  is  one  on  the  "  Singing  of  Birds  ". 
The  sounds  uttered  by  birds  are,  he  thinks,  no  more  innate 
than  language  is  in  man.  He  gives  instances  of  birds  which 
have  caught  the  song  of  a  foster-parent  or  a  fellow-captive. 
He  thinks  that  hen  birds  are  commonly  mute  and  dull- 
coloured,  for  their  own  safety  during  incubation.  The 
repeated  references  to  Barrington  in  Darwin's  Descent  of 
Man  show  that  his  observations  still  constitute  an  important 
part  of  the  literature  of  animal  instinct.  He  wrote  also  on 
the  temperature  of  Italy  in  ancient  and  modern  times  (see 
White's  Letter  V.) ;  on  the  trees  indigenous  to  Great  Britain 
(where  he  very  properly  decides  that  the  Spanish  chestnut 
is  not  among  the  number);  on  rain  at  different  heights, 
and  on  Dolly  Pentreath,  the  last  person  who  spoke  the 
Cornish  language.  His  plan  of  a  Naturalist' *s  Calendar  was 
put  into  practice  by  Gilbert  White  and  others.  Barrington 
was  F.R.S.,  and  presented  White's  papers  on  Swallows  to 
the  Royal  Society.  A  tropical  myrtle,  Barringtonia,  named 
after  him  by  Forster,  still  keeps  his  name  familiar  to  the  new 
generations  of  botanists.  He  survived  long  enough  to  become 
one  of  the  oddities  among  Charles  Lamb's  Old  Benchers.  By 
a  singular  fate  the  correspondent  of  Gilbert  White  is  the 
bencher  whose  bill  for  sparrow-poison  is  disallowed. 


xx  INTRODUCTION 

In  the  eyes  of  many  naturalists  (Gilbert  White  among  the 
rest)  Barrington  did  good  service  by  issuing  a  form  for  the 
observation  of  periodical  natural  phenomena.  This  was  the 
Naturalists  Calendar,  which  was  published  regularly  for 
many  years.  Here  were  provided  columns  for  meteorological 
readings,  and  for  the  appearance  or  disappearance  of  leaves, 
flowers,  insects  and  birds.  It  was  hoped  that  the  Calendar 
would  rescue  many  facts  which  would  find  a  use  at  some 
future  day.  Even  in  White's  diligent  hands  little  seems  to 
have  come  of  these  formal  entries.  He  did,  it  is  true,  fill  his 
own  copy  of  the  Naturalist's  Calendar  with  valuable  notes, 
but  it  is  not  the  things  demanded  by  Barrington,  it  is  the 
thoughts  of  Gilbert  White  himself  which  give  them  all  their 
present  interest.  Any  book  of  blank  paper  would  have  done 
just  as  well  for  a  vehicle.  In  natural  history  and  meteorology 
mere  facts  are  cheap  as  summer  dust ;  we  want  not  heaps  of 
crude  facts,  but  facts  arranged  and  interpreted,  questions  and 
the  answers  to  questions.  From  Bacon's  time  to  ours  sanguine 
men  have  vainly  hoped  that  records  of  occurrence,  bald  notes 
of  time  and  place,  and  so  forth,  would  furnish  valuable  material 
to  the  future  worker.  But  the  fruits  of  such  labours  have  not 
answered  expectation ;  perhaps  we  might  say  that  there  were 
no  fruits  at  all,  or  at  least  that  they  were  never  gathered  in. 
Real  scientific  investigators  have  not  troubled  the  dusty  piles 
of  records  and  statistics  ;  they  have  trusted  to  fresh  and  living 
experience.  After  nearly  a  century  and  a  half,  crowded  with 
unavailing  labours,  we  may  claim  to  be  wiser  in  some  particu- 
lars than  Barrington  and  White  ;  we  can  see  better  than  was 
then  possible  which  of  their  schemes  were  hopeful  and  which 
hopeless.  It  is  now  time  to  recognise  that  the  mechanical 
exploration  of  nature  is  barren.  Nothing  has  come  or  will 
come  (as  Biot  long  ago  declared)  of  systematic  observations 
made  without  special  object  by  men  who  record  with  busy 
pen  but  unreflecting  mind. 

Dr.  Richard  Chandler  (1738-1810),  to  whose  learning  and 
diligence  White's  account  of  the  antiquities  of  Selborrie  owed 
so  much,  was  first  made  widely  known  by  his  description  of 
the  Oxford  marbles  (Marmora  Oxoniensia,  1763).  He  was 
afterwards  sent  with  two  companions  by  the  Society  of  Dilet- 


INTRODUCTION  xxi 

tanti  to  visit  Asia  Minor,  and  procure  drawings  of  ancient 
monuments  and  inscriptions.  After  two  years  of  exploration 
Chandler  returned  to  England,  and  published  the  materials 
collected  in  a  series  of  volumes  (Ionian  Antiquities,  1769 ; 
Inscriptiones  antiques,  1774;  Travels  in  Asia  Minor,  1775; 
Travels  in  Greece,  1776).  In  1779  he  was  presented  by  his 
college  (Magdalen)  to  the  livings  of  East  Worldham  and 
West  Tisted,  and  thus  became  for  a  few  years  neighbour  to 
Gilbert  White.  In  1800  he  removed  'to  Tilehurst,  near 
Reading,  where  he  died.  His  life  of  W.  Waynflete,  Bishop 
of  Winchester,  was  published  posthumously  in  1811. 

In  1767  White  seems  to  have  met  Pennant  in  London, 
and  to  have  held  conversation  with  him  on  natural  history. 
Pennant  encouraged  White  to  send  him  notes,  and  at  length 
a  correspondence  was  begun,  which  was  the  germ  of  the 
History  ofSelborne.  Both  Pennant  and  Barrington  favoured, 
if  they  did  not  originate,  the  notion  of  an  account  of  the 
natural  history  of  the  parish.  In  1774  and  1775  White 
sent  to  the  Royal  Society  his  account  of  the  swallows  and 
swifts,1  and  this  formed  a  substantial  instalment  of  the  pro- 
jected history.  He  carried  out  the  work  of  collection  and 
revision  in  an  extremely  leisurely  way,  and  the  History  did 
not  appear  till  1789. 

White  died  after  a  short  illness  in  1793,  and  was  buried  in 
Selborne  churchyard,  to  the  north  of  the  chancel,  where  his 
gravestone,  inscribed  "  G.  W.,  June  26,  1793,"  may  still  be 
seen. 

In  person  White  was  small,  only  five  feet  three  inches  high, 
and  was  described  by  one  who  knew  him  well 2  as  of  spare 
form  and  remarkably  upright  carriage.  He  would  never  sit 
for  his  portrait.  Even  in  middle  life  he  had  to  complain  of 
"  the  infirmities  of  a  deaf  man,"  but  his  sight  was  particularly 
good  up  to  old  age.  In  his  younger  days  he  had  been  a 
sportsman.  All  his  life  he  was  fond  of  music,  though  he 
neither  played  nor  sang.  Tradition  and  his  own  writings 
preserve  a  tolerable  picture  of  his  character.  We  cannot  fail 
to  remark  his  old-fashioned  courtesy,  his  good  humour,  his 

1  Phil.  Trans.,  vols.  Ixiv.,  p.  196,  Ixv.,  p.  258. 

2  His  nephew,  the  Rev.  Francis  White,  in  Bell's  memoir. 


xxii  INTRODUCTION 

liberality  to  all  about  him,  his  care  about  small  things,  and 
his  exactness  in  relation.  We  are  told  of  his  many  Christmas 
presents  to  his  parishioners,  of  his  paying  for  the  schooling 
of  poor  children,  of  the  indulgence  which  he  showed  to  old 
servants.  His  nephew  thought  that  he  particularly  excelled 
in  addressing  his  poor  neighbours,  and  making  them  feel  that 
he  was  their  friend. 

No  explanation  of  the  merit  of  the  Natural  History  of' 
Selborne  can  be  at  all  adequate  which  does  not  dwell  upon 
the  reality  and  truth  of  White's  descriptions.  His  personal 
knowledge  of  nature  was  great,  not  in  relation  to  the  know- 
ledge accumulated  in  books,  but  in  comparison  with  the  direct 
experience  of  most  other  naturalists  of  any  age.  Here  is  one 
great  difference  between  him  and  the  imitators  who  have 
hoped  to  succeed  by  mere  picturesque  writing.  White  is 
interesting  because  nature  is  interesting ;  his  descriptions  are 
founded  upon  natural  fact,  exactly  observed  and  sagaciously 
interpreted.  Very  few  of  his  observations  and  not  many  of 
his  inferences  need  correction  more  than  a  hundred  years  after 
his  death. 

Then  there  is  the  human  interest  of  the  History !  What 
White  calls  his  "  anecdotes,"  his  pieces  of  unpublished  infor- 
mation, had  rested  in  his  mind  for  years,  and  grown  warm 
there.  Some  of  them  had  already  been  related  to  more  than 
one  correspondent,  and  the  best  way  of  telling  the  story  had 
been  found  out  by  repeated  trial.  The  book  bears  witness  to 
White's  love  of  all  that  bears  upon  the  daily  life  of  men. 
The  agricultural  value  of  the  different  soils  of  Selborne,  the 
means  of  subsistence  of  the  poor  of  the  parish,  deer-stealing, 
the  long  shining  fly  that  lays  its  eggs  in  bacon  drying  in  the 
chimneys,  the  making  of  rushlights,  the  causes  of  leprosy  and 
its  cure  by  improved  food  and  cleanliness,  the  injury  done  to 
garden  shrubs  by  repeated  freezing  and  thawing  and  the  way 
to  prevent  it — these  and  other  homely  practical  topics  occupy 
White  as  pleasantly  as  song-birds  or  curious  insects. 

White  now  and  then  foresaw  the  importance  of  inquiries 
which  had  not  as  yet  been  instituted.  See,  for  instance,  what 
he  says  about  the  knowledge  of  noxious  insects  (Letter 
XXXIV.  to  Pennant),  about  the  improvement  of  pastures 


INTRODUCTION  xxiii 

by  means  of  the  study  of  grasses  (Letter  XL.  to  Barrington), 
and  his  recognition  of  the  effect  of  earthworms  on  the  fertility 
of  soils  (Letter  XXXV.  to  Barrington).  He  does  not,  it  is 
true,  expressly  remark  that  earthworms,  by  perpetually  bring- 
ing up  earth  from  below  and  depositing  it  on  the  surface  of 
the  land,  cause  stones  and  other  objects  to  sink  into  the 
ground.  The  full  importance  of  their  operations  and  the 
exact  manner  in  which  they  are  carried  out  was  left  to  be 
set  forth  by  Charles  Darwin,  one  of  those  "inquisitive  and 
discerning  persons  "  whom  White  longed  to  set  working  upon 
the  economy  of  the  earthworm. 

Mr.  Warde  Fowler x  gives  White  credit  for  being  the  first, 
so  far  as  he  knows,  to  notice  protective  resemblance,  which 
has  since  become  so  fruitful  a  study.  In  Letter  XVI.  (April 
18,  1768)  White  gives  the  following  description  of  the  stone 
curlew :  "  The  young  run  immediately  from  the  egg,  like 
partridges,  etc.,  and  are  withdrawn  to  some  flinty  field  by  the 
dam,  where  they  skulk  among  the  stones,  which  are  their  best 
security ;  for  their  feathers  are  so  exactly  of  the  colour  of  our 
gray  spotted  flints  that  the  most  exact  observer,  unless  he 
catches  the  eye  of  the  young  bird,  may  be  eluded".  It  is 
very  singular  that  White's  friend,  whom  he  calls  "  a  man  of 
observation  and  good  sense,  but  no  naturalist,"  John  Woods 
of  Chilgrove,  near  Chichester,2  should  give  the  same  account 
of  the  stone  curlew  in  much  the  same  words  (Letter 
XXXIII.,  November  26, 1770).  "  They  breed  on  fallows  and 
layfields  abounding  with  gray  mossy  flints,  which  much  re- 
semble their  young  in  colour,  among  which  they  skulk  and 
conceal  themselves/'  The  date  of  Woods1  observation  cannot 
be  ascertained  ;  he  quotes  from  his  own  Naturalists  Journal. 
The  mere  documentary  evidence  fails  to  show  whether  the 
words  are  those  of  White  or  Woods,  but  we  can  hardly  doubt 
that  it  was  really  White  who  hit  upon  this  capital  observation, 
worthy  of  the  best  passages  in  the  History  of  Selborne. 

Whitens  almost  total  lack  of  ambition  enhances,  as  it 
happens,  the  literary  quality  of  his  History.  There  is  none 

1  Summer  Studies  of  Birds  and  Books,  p.  217. 

2  John  Woods  was  brother  to  Henry  Woods,  who  married  Gilbert  White's 
sister,  Rebecca. 


xxiv  INTEODUCTION 

of  the  bustle  of  the  man  who  carries  on  a  wide  correspondence, 
none  of  the  hurry  and  excitement  of  the  discoverer  who  fears  to 
be  forestalled.  I  can  find  no  indication  that  White  ever  left 
England,  and  his  travels  were  confined,  for  all  that  we  know, 
to  the  southern  and  central  counties.  He  visited  Devonshire 
in  1750.  In  one  place  he  speaks  of  having  seen  Eldon  Hole 
in  Derbyshire,  but  he  has  not  been  traced  further  north. 
Nor  did  he  greatly  enlarge  his  knowledge  of  the  world  by 
books.  I  have  met  with  no  proof  that  he  was  in  the  habit  of 
reading  any  modern  foreign  language.  Selborne  was  to  White 
a  kind  of  Robinson  Crusoe^s  island,  which  comprehended  with- 
in itself  all  his  daily  interests.  Whatever  a  pair  of  particularly 
quick  eyes  could  discover  there  is  set  down  for  us,  but  the 
outer  world,  though  not  shut  out,  is  seen  only  on  the  horizon. 
We  have  glimpses  of  London  smoke  and  Oxford  spires ;  letters 
come  in  now  and  then  from  distant  parts  of  the  country,  but 
there  is  no  distraction  or  complication.  All  White's  letters 
breathe  the  same  air  and  reflect  one  mind. 

While  Gilbert  White  was  penning  letters  at  Selborne 
Horace  Walpole  was  penning  letters  at  Strawberry  Hill. 
Walpole's  life  overlaps  White's  a  little  at  both  ends.  How 
totally  unlike  are  the  two  collections — unlike  in  bulk,  in  style 
and  in  the  topics  chosen !  They  might  have  been  written  in 
different  centuries.  That  WaJpole  cares  nothing  for  natural 
history  is  easy  to  understand,  but  it  is  singular  that  White 
should  care  so  little  for  what  was  passing  in  the  outer  world. 
Not  only  the  fashionable  circles,  which  were  so  much  to  Horace 
Walpole,  but  the  conquest  of  Canada,  the  conquest  of  India, 
and  the  loss  of  the  American  colonies  are  at  most  barely 
mentioned  in  any  letter  of  his.  The  French  Revolution  does 
indeed  suggest  a  remark  or  two  in  his  letters  to  Marsh  am, 
but  White  gets  back  immediately  to  the  wet  fallows  and  the 
woodpeckers.  I  do  not  know  that  he  ever  names  Chatham 
or  William  Pitt,  Clive,  Warren  Hastings,  Burke  or  John 
Wesley.1  Gibbon  is  mentioned  once  or  twice  as  a  Hampshire 
gentleman,  who  is  about  to  publish  a  work  on  the  later 
Roman  Empire.  It  is  an  element  in  the  rustic  charm  of 

1  This  statement  will  very  likely  require  modification  if  more  of  White's 
letters  should  appear  in  print. 


INTEODUCTION  xxv 

the  History  that  White's  attention  was  perpetually  fixed  upon 
one  narrow  spot  of  English  ground. 

White  was  a  man  of  few  books  and  of  no  great  range  of 
thought.  His  mind  was  a  lens  exquisite  in  definition,  but  of 
small  field.  When  it  was  truly  focussed  upon  any  object,  it 
revealed  many  details  which  escape  the  ordinary  observer. 
He  not  only  saw  well,  but  described  well,  rapidly  gathering 
round  the  point  of  interest  all  the  illustrative  facts  which  his 
experience  yielded.  At  such  times  White  is  at  his  very  best 
— modern,  anticipatory  and  scientific.  Outside  this  small 
field  of  clear  light  there  naturally  existed  a  hazy  region  of 
imperfectly  apprehended  facts  and  notions.  The  existence  of 
such  a  region  of  half-knowledge  is  not  remarkable;  it  is 
probably  to  be  found  in  every  mind ;  what  distinguished 
White  was  the  exceptional  clearness  and  the  narrow  compass 
of  the  illuminated  tract.  In  the  Natural  History  of  Selborne 
we  pass  from  a  passage  which  is  for  ever  memorable  in  biology, 
and  there  are  many  such,  to  discussions  in  which  we  feel  that 
his  mind  was  only  half  awake,  that  he  was  merely  giving  out 
the  teaching  of  his  own  age.  Of  this  kind  are  his  medita- 
tions on  physico-theology,  reflections  of  the  not  very  vigorous 
thought  of  Ray  and  Derham.  Like  them,  and  like  most 
English  and  German  naturalists  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
White  multiplies  instances  of  natural  contrivance,  but  ignores 
all  the  difficult  cases. 

I  have  noticed  a  few  of  the  special  features  of  the  Natural 
History  of  Selborne,  but  no  analysis  can  fully  explain  its 
peculiar  charm.  There  is  genius  in  the  book,  which  makes 
things  for  ever  memorable  which  another  might  have  at- 
tempted to  tell  without  ever  catching  our  attention.  Think 
of  the  common  man's  tiresome  details  of  the  weather  which 
he  has  known  in  past  years,  and  then  recollect  Gilbert  White's 
account  of  his  great  frosts,  his  hot  summers  and  his  thunder- 
storms. Of  all  English  books  on  natural  history  this  has 
been  most  read  and  most  enjoyed.  Learned  and  simple, 
practical  and  contemplative,  working  naturalists  and  poets — 
all  find  in  Gilbert  White  an  author  to  their  taste.  Probably 
no  book  in  any  language  has  incited  more  people  to  take  up 
the  study  of  natural  history.  Many  have  tried  to  write  letters 


xxvi  INTRODUCTION 

on  White's  plan,  but  their  eyes  were  not  so  good  as  his ;  they 
failed  to  pick  out  the  points  of  real  interest,  and  they  had  no 
Selbornes  to  describe.  By  the  use  of  natural  gifts  exactly 
suited  to  the  task  a  man  who  was  sagacious  rather  than 
profound,  and  well-read  rather  than  learned,  wrote  us  a  book 
which  will  endure  for  ever,  a  small  thing  perfectly  done. 


II.— SELBORNE. 

I  have  heard  people  say  that  Selborne  is  only  a  commonplace 
English  village,  which  owes  all  its  interest  to  the  circumstance 
that  a  man  of  genius  once  lived  there.  With  this  view  of  the 
matter  I  totally  disagree.  Selborne  is  not  at  all  commonplace ; 
its  variety  of  soil  and  of  elevation,  its  terraces,  woods,  heaths 
and  waters,  its  antiquities  and  historical  associations,  make 
it  both  remarkable  and  charming.  White  says  of  it :  "  The 
parish  I  live  in  is  a  very  abrupt,  uneven  country,  full  of  hills 
and  woods,  and  therefore  full  of  birds  ".  It  is  not  less  full  of 
flowers  and  insects.  Selborne  is  beautiful,  calm,  but  not  in 
the  least  dull.  There  are  few  parishes  in  England  fitter  to 
rear  a  naturalist,  and  Selborne  had  no  doubt  a  great  share  in 
the  making  of  Gilbert  White. 

The  seclusion  of  Selborne  was  somewhat  more  complete  in 
White's  time  than  now.  The  hollow  lanes,  though  practi- 
cable for  horsemen  and  post-chaises,  must  have  made  the  home- 
end  of  every  journey  slow  and  fatiguing.1  The  great  roads 
once  gained,  either  the  Portsmouth  Road  or  the  Winchester 
Road,  the  way  to  London  was  particularly  good.  White 
could  visit  cities  whenever  he  pleased  to  make  the  effort,  and 
the  cities  which  he  most  frequented  were  of  notable  interest — 
London,  where  two  of  his  brothers  carried  on  business,  and 
Oxford,  whither  he  was  often  drawn  by  college  affairs  and 
lifelong  friendships.  London  was  a  day's  journey,  Oxford  a 
two  days'  journey  by  post-chaise.  Selborne  was  exactly  the 

1  Visitors  to  Selborne  must  not  suppose  that  the  old  road  to  Alton,  now  impass- 
able, was  the  only  one  in  White's  day.  In  1780  he  recommends  Churton  to  drive 
from  Alton  to  Selborne  by  Farringdon  and  the  Horse  and  Jockey. 


INTRODUCTION  xxvii 

place  for  a  man  of  White's  habits;    without  being  in  any 
sense  a  prison,  it  was  secluded  and  romantic. 

The  natural  features  of  Selborne  cannot  be  rightly  under- 
stood without  some  tincture  of  geological  knowledge.  The 
chalk  formation  of  the  south  of  England  comprises  the  fol- 
lowing members : — 

[Tertiaries  of  London  and  Hampshire  basins.] 

Upper  Chalk.  Gault. 

Lower  Chalk.  Lower  Greensand. 

Chalk  Marl.  Wealden. 

Upper  Greensand.  [Jurassic.] 

The  top  bed  of  the  upper  greensand  is  a  chalky  marl, 
with  phosphatic  nodules,  learnedly  styled  the  chloritic  marl. 
This  is  the  "black  malm"1  of  Gilbert  White.  The  upper 
greensand  (white  malm)  contains  beds  of  hard  blue  limestone 
("ragstone")  and  sandstone  ("  firestone "),  besides  marls. 
The  lower  beds  are  all  marly,  and  pass  into  the  clay  of  the 
gault.  The  gault  yields  a  wet  soil,  stiff  and  hard  to  plough, 
but  excellent  agricultural  land.  This  is  the  "strong  loam  of 
Alice  Holt,"  which  White  describes  as  "of  a  miry  nature, 
carrying  a  good  turf,  and  abounding  with  oaks  that  grow  to 
be  large  timber".  The  lower  greensand,  which  stretches  to 
the  east  beyond  the  gault,  forms  a  picturesque  but  sterile  tract, 
overgrown  with  heather,  fern  and  gorse,  and  dotted  with  plan- 
tations of  pines  and  other  trees — the  "  rascally  heaths  of  Cob- 
bett ".  White  says  of  Wolmer  Forest,  which  lies  on  the  lower 
greensand,  that  it  "  is  nothing  but  a  hungry,  sandy,  barren 
waste,"  and  that  it  had  no  standing  tree  in  its  whole  extent. 
The  more  elevated  parts  of  the  forest  have  since  1825  been 
to  a  considerable  extent  planted  with  Scotch  fir.  The  forest 
is  controlled  by  the  War  Office  and  the  Department  of 
Woods  and  Forests,  who  allow  no  shooting  except  pheasant 
shooting  and  the  firing  inevitable  during  military  manoeuvres. 
On  certain  adjoining  estates  also  the  gamekeepers  are  kept 
under  some  restraint.  Many  birds,  such  as  woodpeckers, 
fern-owls  and  herons,  are  on  the  increase,  and  there  are  hopes 

1  Malm  seems  to  be  a  local  synonym  of  marl,  a  chalky  clay. 


xxviii  INTRODUCTION 

that  Wolmer  Forest  may  become  a  sanctuary  for  many 
creatures  which  are  destroyed  without  mercy  by  people  who 
profess  to  be  fond  of  natural  history. 

From  Wiltshire  and  Dorsetshire  the  chalk  ranges  into 
Hampshire,  Berkshire,  Hertfordshire,  Kent  and  Sussex,  form- 
ing a  great  expanse  of  downs  with  wide  curving  valleys 
between.  This  rather  monotonous  country  is  disturbed  by 
the  upheaval  of  the  Weald,  which  brings  up  a  mass  of 
wealden  (lower  cretaceous)  beds  in  the  heart  of  Surrey, 
Kent  and  Sussex.  The  wealden  beds  are  encircled  on  all 
sides  but  one,  where  the  sea  comes  in,  by  chalk  hills,  the 
North  Downs  of  Kent  and  Surrey,  the  Hog's  Back,  the 
Hampshire  Downs  and  the  South  Downs  of  Sussex.  Between 
the  outer  chalk  hills,  whose  steep  sides  face  inwards,  and  the 
wealden  beds,  come  on  in  their  order  the  intermediate  for- 
mations (upper  greensand,  gault,  lower  greensand),  all 
dipping  away  from  the  central  mass  of  the  Weald.  Selborne 
lies  just  within  the  circle  of  chalk  hills.  The  escarpment  of 
the  Hanger,  a  chalk  hill,  rises  above  it,  the  meadows  between 
the  Hanger  and  the  village  are  underlain  by  chalk  marl ; 
then  come  the  "black  malm"  or  chloritic  marl,  the  ragstones 
and  firestones  of  the  Lythes,  Hartley  Hanger,  Temple  Farm, 
etc.,  the  "  white  malm  "  or  upper  greensand,  the  gault  of  Alice 
Holt,  Bin's  Wood,  Hartley  Wood,  the  Priory  Farm,  etc., 
and  lastly  the  lower  greensand  of  Blackmoor  and  the 
forest. 

The  visitor  to  Selborne  can  drive  over  from  Alton,  making 
a  short  stay  at  Norton  Farm,  where  the  old  road  to  Alton, 
long  disused,  can  be  seen.  Selborne  itself,  the  church,  the 
Wakes,  the  Hanger  and  the  Lythe  will  first  be  visited.  Then 
he  can  drive  to  Blackmoor  and  Wolmer  Pond,  Greatham,  Liss, 
Hawkley  (the  site  of  the  famous  landslip  of  1774),  Empshott, 
Newton  Valence,  Farringdon,  and  so  back  to  Alton.  This 
round  brings  in  many  of  White's  favourite  haunts,  and  gives 
a  good  notion  of  the  whole  parish.  By  staying  one  night  at 
Selborne  many  other  spots,  interesting  to  readers  of  the 
Natural  History,  can  be  brought  in.  The  views  from  Sel- 
borne Hanger  and  Hawkley  Hanger  are  remarkable,  extend- 
ing far  over  Hampshire,  Surrey  and  Sussex. 


INTRODUCTION  xxix 


III.— THE  HISTORY  OF  GILBERT  WHITE'S  BOOK. 

The  original  Natural  History  and  Antiquities  of  Selborne, 
published  in  1789,  is  a  handsome  quarto  of  468  +  13  pp.  and 
nine  plates,  mostly  after  Grimm's  drawings.  The  large 
folding  frontispiece,  giving  a  general  view  of  Selborne,  is 
particularly  attractive.  Good  copies  now  command  high 
prices. 

In  1795,  two  years  after  Gilbert  White's  death,  Dr.  Aikin, 
joint  author  with  his  sister,  Mrs.  Barbauld,  of  the  Evenings 
at  Home,  produced  A  Naturalises  Calendar,  with  Observations 
in  various  branches  of  Natural  History,  extracted  from  the 
papers  of  the  late  Rev.  Gilbert  White,  M.A.,  of  Selborne, 
Hampshire,  Senior  Fellow  of  Oriel  College,  Oxford  (Lon- 
don, B.  &  J.  White,  8vo,  pp.  170  +  6).  Dr.  Aikin,  when  at 
Warrington,  had  published  a  Natural  History  of  the  Year, 
which  White  notices  at  the  end  of  his  last  letter  on  the  Natural 
History  of  Selborne.  The  advertisement  to  the  Naturalist's 
Calendar  explained  that  White  had  left  behind  him  a  series 
of  yearly  books  containing  his  observations  on  rural  nature 
between  the  year  1768  and  his  death.  From  these  books 
he  had  himself  extracted  what  he  required  for  the  History 
of  Selborne,  but  some  curious  facts  not  selected  for  publica- 
tion and  all  the  observations  subsequent  to  1787  remained 
untouched.  The  Naturalist's  Calendar  in  its  present  form  is 
Dr.  Aikin's  work.  He  notes  that  the  dates  of  flowering  of 
plants  are  chiefly  extracted  from  the  book  of  1768  alone,  and 
that  this  was  a  rather  backward  year. 

White's  materials  were  altogether  insufficient  for  a  natural 
history  of  the  year.  Even  when  supplemented  by  Markwick's 
observations  made  at  Catsfield,  near  Battle,  in  Sussex,  from 
1768  to  1793  (and  this  is  the  form  in  which  they  are  usually 
reprinted),  they  are  merely  specimens  of  this  sort  of  informa- 
tion. I  cannot  say  that  I  thirst  for  more.  Naturalists  are 
only  too  prone  to  draw  up  registers,  which  exercise  their 
diligence  without  taxing  their  powers  of  reflection.  To  learn 
why  birds,  insects  and  flowers  observe  particular  seasons  would 
be  much,  but  the  mere  accumulation  of  isolated  facts  has 
already  gone  far  enough. 


xxx  INTRODUCTION 

In  1802  there  appeared  in  two  volumes,  8vo,  the  Works 
in  Natural  History  of  the  late  Rev.  G.  White,  comprising 
the  Natural  History  of  Selborne,  the  Naturalist's  Calendar, 
the  Miscellaneous  Observations  and  MarJcwick's  Notes. 

The  Natural  History  and  Antiquities,  edited  by  Mitford 
(4to,  587  +  5  pp.  and  12  plates),  appeared  in  1813. 

Rennie's  edition  (1831)  was  furnished  with  notes  and  figures 
by  the  Rev.  W.  Herbert,  Dean  of  Manchester.  Edward 
Turner  Bennett  edited  an  edition  of  the  Natural  History, 
Antiquities,  Calendar  and  Miscellaneous  Observations,  which 
appeared  in  1837  (London,  8vo,  xxiv  -f  640  pp.,  woodcuts 
by  Harvey).  The  editor  died  when  the  book  was  nearly 
through  the  press,  and  his  brother,  J.  J.  Bennett,  completed 
what  remained  to  be  done.  This  edition  contains  numerous 
notes  by  the  editor,  Bell,  Owen,  Yarrell  and  G.  Daniell, 
which  are  often  useful,  though  too  profuse.  Bennett's  edition 
was  re-edited  by  Harting  in  1875.  The  next  edition  of  import- 
ance was  Professor  Bell's,  in  two  volumes  8vo,  with  plates  and 
woodcuts  (London,  1877).  This  edition  was  very  careful  and 
complete;  it  included  all  White's  published  writings;  some 
unpublished  notes  on  natural  history ;  his  correspondence ; 
letters  by  members  of  his  family ;  four  unpublished  letters 
from  Linnaeus  to  John  White ;  notes  and  a  memoir  by  the 
editor,  who  had  for  many  years  owned  and  inhabited  White's 
house  in  Selborne ;  notes,  chiefly  on  the  birds,  by  Professor 
Alfred  Newton ;  accounts  of  the  botany  and  geology  of 
Selborne;  a  chapter  on  the  Romano-British  Antiquities  by 
the  late  Lord  Selborne ;  a  specimen  of  the  Garden  Kalendar, 
White's  account  book,  and  one  of  his  sermons.  Bowdler 
Sharpe's  edition,  now  in  course  of  publication,  contains  the 
Garden  Kalendar.  Other  editions,  which  add  little  or 
nothing  to  our  knowledge,  either  of  White  or  of  Selborne, 
need  not  be  specified;  they  number  altogether  eighty  or 
more. 

The  most  attractive  and  useful  of  these  editions,  to  those 
purchasers  who  cannot  command  the  original,  are  Bell's  and 
Bennett's.  Harting's  edition  contains  not  a  few  good  notes. 
But  almost  any  copy  of  the  Natural  History  is  sufficient  for 
use  and  enjoyment.  White  owes  little  to  his  many  editors, 


INTRODUCTION  xxxi 

who  can  but  correct  mistakes  of  no  great  moment,  or  help  to 
gratify  the  natural  curiosity  which  seeks  to  learn  something 
more  about  so  entertaining  a  writer. 


IV.— WHITE'S  VIEW  OF  THE  MIGRATION  OF  BIRDS.1 

BY  W.  WARDE  FOWLER. 

Readers  of  the  Natural  History  of  Selborne  are  naturally 
surprised  to  find  that  throughout  the  series  of  letters,  i.e.9  to 
the  end  of  his  life,  this  most  careful  observer  was  never  able 
to  free  himself  entirely  from  the  old  belief  that  birds  of  the 
swallow  kind  do  not  all  leave  us  in  autumn,  and  that  many 
remain  in  a  torpid  state  during  the  winter,  hidden  away  in 
holes  or  other  convenient  winter  quarters.  His  general  ideas 
of  migration  were  indeed  sensible  enough,  and  were  supported 
by  the  observations  of  his  brother  John  at  Gibraltar.  He 
never  seems  to  have  doubted  that  the  majority  of  our  summer 
migrants,  the  "  short- winged  birds  of  passage,"  as  he  calls 
them,  leave  our  shores  for  the  south  in  autumn,  and  return 
again  in  spring,  and  he  was  the  first  to  discover  that  the  ring- 
ousel  is  a  passing  visitor  to  the  south  of  England  both  in 
spring  and  autumn.  But  in  the  case  of  swallows  and  martins 
the  traditional  idea  kept  at  least  an  intermittent  hold  on  his 
mind,  and  even  led  him  to  misinterpret  his  own  careful  obser- 
vations. In  Letter  LI.  to  Barrington  we  find  him  actually 
employing  some  labourers  to  explore  the  shrubs  and  cavities 
of  a  spot  near  Selborne,  in  which  he  fancied  that  the  martins 
might  be  lying  hid. 

This  loyalty  to  an  old  delusion  is  so  remarkable  in  a  man 
of  White's  mental  acuteness  and  out-of-door  habits  that  it 
seems  worth  while  to  ask  how  English  ornithologists  came 
by  it,  and  why  it  was  that  White  was  unable  to  clear  his 
mind  of  it.  Even  at  the  present  day  it  has  not  entirely 
disappeared.2 

1  On  migration  in  general  the  reader  may  consult  the  article  "  Migration  "  in 
Newton's  Dictionary  of  Birds,  and  for  animal  hibernation  the  article  "  Hibernation  " 
in  the  Encyclopedia  Britannica. 

2  See  Mr.  C.  Dixon's  Migration  of  Birds,  p.  8  f. 


xxxii  INTRODUCTION 

If  we  go  back  to  Aristotle,  the  father  of  natural  history, 
we  find  that  he  gives  a  perfectly  rational  account  of  migration 
in  general,  including  that  of  birds  and  fishes.1  The  pheno- 
mena of  migration  are  indeed  sufficiently  obvious  to  the  eyes 
of  all  observant  dwellers  on  the  Mediterranean  coasts;  and 
many  allusions  in  ancient  literature  2  show  that  the  passage 
of  birds  in  spring  and  autumn  was  familiar  to  the  ordinary 
Greek  and  Roman  as  well  as  to  the  learned.  But  a  few  pages 
further  on  Aristotle  goes  on  to  tell  us  that  many  birds,  and 
especially  those  which  live  at  a  long  distance  from  warm 
countries,  i.e.,  in  the  far  north,  do  not  migrate,  but  "hide 
themselves  "  in  the  cold  weather.  Many  swallows,  he  says, 
have  been  found  in  the  winter  so  hiding,  and  entirely  without 
feathers.3  This,  so  far  as  I  know,  is  the  first  account  of  the 
so-called  hibernation  of  birds. 

Remembering  that  Aristotle  was  born  and  bred  in  a  city 
on  the  Thracian  coast,  where  he  might  well  hear  stories 
coming  from  the  mountainous  region  to  the  north,  we  may 
perhaps  surmise  that  in  this  passage  we  have  an  echo  of  that 
northern  folklore  which  in  more  recent  times,  as  will  be  shown 
directly,  has  been  the  origin  of  the  whole  misconception. 
How  far  Aristotle  himself  has  been  responsible  for  the  spread 
of  this  misconception  it  is  impossible  to  say ;  but  considering 
his  immense  vogue  in  the  middle  ages  it  is  not  unlikely  that 
his  authority  added  weight  to  it.  In  any  case  it  reappeared 
in  literature,  and  in  an  exaggerated  form,  at  the  close  of  the 
middle  ages,  and  so  found  its  way  into  the  writings  of  English 
ornithologists. 

Olaus  Magnus,  Bishop  of  Upsala  in  the  first  half  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  gives  an  explicit  and  amusing  account  of 
the  hibernation  of  swallows  under  water ;  and  in  the  copy  of 
his  work  which  lies  before  me4  there  is  a  quaint  woodcut 
supposed  to  represent  two  fishermen  extracting  the  birds  from 
their  winter  home  with  a  fishing-net.  As  this  account  was 
reproduced  not  long  afterwards  by  our  own  Richard  Burton 

1  Historia  A?timalium<  viii.,  12. 

2  E.g.,  Homer,  Iliad,   iii.,  2 ;  Virgil,  JEneid,  vi.,  309. 

3  Historia  Animalium,  viii.,  15. 

4  Page  732  of  the  Basle  edition  of  1567. 


INTRODUCTION  xxxiii 

in  his  Anatomy  of  Melancholy,  I  cannot  do  better  than  quote 
a  few  lines  from  that  curious  treasure-house  of  undigested 
learning : — * 

"  And  if  I  could  (I  would)  observe  what  becomes  of  swallows, 
storks,  cranes,  cuckowes,  nightingales,  redstarts,  and  many 
other  kinds  of  singing  birds,  water-fowles,  hawkes,  etc.  Some 
of  them  are  only  scene  in  summer,  some  in  winter ;  some  are 
observed  in  the  snow,  and  at  no  other  times  :  each  have  their 
seasons.  In  winter  not  a  bird  is  in  Muscovie  to  bee  found, 
but  at  the  spring  in  an  instant  the  woods  and  hedges  are  full 
of  them,  saith  Herbastein  :  how  comes  it  to  pass  ?  Doe  they 
sleepe  in  winter,  like  Gesner's  Alpine  mice ;  or  doe  they  lie  hid 
(as  Olaus  affirmes)  in  the  bottome  of  lakes  and  rivers,  spiritum 
continentes:  often  so  found  by fisJiermen  in  Poland  and  Scandia, 
two  together,  mouth  to  mouth,  wing  to  wing  ,•  and  when  the 
spring  comes  they  revive  againe,  or  if  they  bee  brought  into  a 
stove,  or  to  the  fireside.  ...  Or  lye  they  hid  in  caves,  rockes, 
and  hollow  trees,  as  most  thinke,  in  deepe  tin-mines  or  sea- 
cliffes,  as  Mr.  Carew  gives  out  ?  I  conclude  of  them  all,  for 
my  part,  as  Munster  doth  of  cranes  and  storkes  :  whence  they 
come,  whither  they  go,  incompertum  adhuc,  as  yet  we  know 
not." 

The  Carew  here  quoted  wrote  a  survey  of  Cornwall,  of 
which  the  first  edition  was  published  in  1602.  As  is  well 
known,  swallows  and  martins  do  occasionally  pass  the  winter 
in  warm  places  on  the  Cornish  coast;  and  this  fact  Carew 
reports  without  committing  himself  to  hibernation.  But 
even  he  was  caught  by  Olaus'  wonderful  tales,  as  will  be  seen 
in  the  following  passage  : — • 2 

"  In  the  west  parts  of  Cornwall,  during  the  winter  season, 
swallows  are  found  sitting  in  old  deep  tin-works,  and  holes  of 
the  sea  cliffes ;  but  touching  their  lurking-places,  Olaus  Magnus 
rnaketh  a  far  stronger  report ;  for  he  saith  that  in  the  north 
parts  of  the  world,  as  summer  weareth  out,  they  clap  mouth 
to  mouth,  wing  to  wing,  and  leg  to  leg,  and  so  after  a  sweet 
singing  fall  down  into  great  lakes  or  pools  amongst  the  caves, 
from  which  whence  at  the  next  spring  they  receive  a  new 

1  First  edition  (1628),  p.  243. 

2  Page  85  of  the  reprint  edited  by  Lord  de  Dunstanville  in  i8n. 
C 


xxxiv  INTRODUCTION 

resurrection;  and  he  addeth,  for  proof  thereof,  that  the 
fishermen,  who  make  holes  in  the  ice  to  dip  up  such  fish  with 
their  nets  as  resort  thither  for  breathing,  do  sometimes  light 
on  these  swallows,  congealed  in  clods  of  a  shiny  substance, 
and  that  carrying  them  home  to  their  stoves,  the  warmth 
restoreth  them  to  life  and  flight.  This  I  have  seen  confirmed 
also  by  the  relation  of  a  Venetian  ambassador  employed  in 
Poland,  and  heard  avowed  by  travellers  in  those  parts ; 
wherethrough  I  am  induced  to  give  it  a  place  of  probability 
in  my  mind,  and  of  report  in  this  treatise." 

This  passage  well  illustrates  the  way  in  which  a  mischievous 
legend  may  spread  in  an  unscientific  age  through  the  medium 
of  a  single  book,  like  an  epidemic  from  a  single  spot,  and 
infect  the  ideas  even  of  sensible  observers  of  nature.  Nearly 
a  century  later  we  find  that  the  best  ornithologist  of  his  day 
had  not  altogether  escaped  the  infection.  Willughby,  whose 
Ornithology  was  edited  by  Ray  in  English  in  1678,  wrote 
thus  of  the  swallows  : —  * 

"  What  becomes  of  swallows  in  winter  time,  whether  they 
fly  into  other  countries,  or  lie  torpid  in  hollow  trees,  and  the 
like  places,  neither  are  natural  historians  agreed,  nor  indeed 
can  we  certainly  determine.  To  us  it  seems  more  probable 
that  they  fly  away  into  hot  countries,  viz.,  Egypt,  Ethiopia, 
etc.,  than  that  they  lurk  in  hollow  trees,  or  holes  of  rocks  and 
ancient  buildings,  or  lie  in  water  under  the  ice,  as  Olaus 
Magnus  reports." 

If  Willughby  had  lived  longer  and  pursued  his  travels  he 
might  have  succeeded  in  stamping  out  all  traces  of  this  in- 
fectious myth  in  England  ;  but  he  died  young,  and  though 
disinclined  himself  to  believe  it,  his  language  in  this  passage 
only  served  to  perpetuate  the  false  tradition.2  Another 
century  passed,  and  even  then  the  most  acute  observer  who 
had  yet  appeared  in  England  was  unable  wholly  to  rid  his 
mind  of  it.  We  may  well  ask  how  this  was  :  for  to  anyone 
accustomed  to  weigh  evidence  it  will  be  quite  clear  that  none 
of  the  passages  quoted  above  could  be  said  to  contain  a 

1  Page  211. 

2  Twenty  years  later  Olaus'  tales  were  reproduced  in  full  in  Dr.   O'Connor's 
History  of  Poland,  vol.  ii.,  p.  85  (1698). 


INTRODUCTION  xxxv 

particle  of  well  authenticated  fact  supporting  the  theory  of 
hibernation. 

The  explanation  is  not  difficult  for  anyone  who  carefully 
follows  the  movements  of  the  swallows  and  martins  before 
they  leave  us  in  the  autumn,  and  then  turns  to  White's 
letters  on  the  subject  of  migration,  giving  them  his  close 
attention.  These  letters  are  X.,  XII.,  XXIII.  and  XXXVIII. 
to  Pennant,  and  IX.,  XII.,  XVIIL,  LI.  and  LV.  to  Bar- 
rington. 

Swallows  and  martins  between  mid-September  and  mid- 
October  travel  leisurely  in  parties  towards  and  along  our 
south  coast.  At  first,  especially  if  they  are  following  the 
coast  line,  these  parties  consist  of  large  numbers,  but  they 
gradually  grow  smaller  and  smaller,  until  only  a  few  stragglers 
pass  at  long  intervals.  But  it  is  by  no  means  easy  to  discover 
that  these  parties  are  travelling.  A  stationary  observer  sees 
them  dallying  round  his  garden,  or  collecting  on  his  house- 
roof,  like  those  that  have  been  with  him  all  the  summer,  and 
very  naturally  fails  to  notice  that  they  are  successive  parties, 
which  remain  for  a  short  while  and  then  go  on  their  way, 
giving  place  to  others.  It  may  need  several  hours  of  close 
attention  to  the  flocks  to  convince  one  that  this  is  so,  and 
the  observer  should  be  in  a  commanding  position,  and  should 
have  the  necessary  leisure  at  a  time  when  the  migration  is 
in  full  flow,  and  the  parties  numerous  and  full.  White, 
though  he  moved  about  a  good  deal,  never  seems  to  have 
discovered  this  movement  in  parties :  his  rides  along  the 
South  Downs  never  seem  to  have  taken  place  just  at  the  right 
time.  And  thus  he  also  failed  to  discover  the  fact  that  as 
October  advances  the  parties  become  smaller  and  fewer,  with 
long  intervals  between  them,  until  at  last,  it  may  be  after  an 
interval  of  some  days,  a  dozen  belated  stragglers  may  appear 
for  a  few  hours  and  then  vanish,  while  still  later  on  two  or 
three  may  possibly  be  seen  for  a  day  or  so.  These  stragglers 
will  probably  be  late  broods  from  the  north  of  England  or 
Ireland,  which  for  one  reason  or  another  have  been  slow  in 
making  their  way  south. 

Now,  if  the  observer  have  a  preconception,  as  White  had, 
that  swallows  can  go  into  hiding  for  the  winter,  what  is  more 


xxxvi  INTRODUCTION 

natural  than  that  he  should  fancy  that  these  late  stragglers 
are  birds  which  have  retired  to  their  place  of  hibernation 
somewhere  at  hand,  and  which  are  only  enticed  out  of  it  once 
more  by  genial  sunshine  in  late  October  or  early  November  ? 
A  glance  at  the  letters  just  mentioned  will  show  that  when- 
ever White  noticed  these  late  parties,  his  preconception  woke 
to  new  life,  and  interrupted  his  usually  clear  mental  vision. 
He  took  them  for  the  birds  of  his  own  village  which  had  gone 
into  hiding  and  then  reappeared.  This  happened  to  him  on 
November  3,  1772  (Letter  XXVIII.  to  Pennant),  on  No- 
vember 4,  1771  (Letter  XII.  to  Barrington),  and  again  in 
October  and  November,  1780  (Letter  LV.  to  Barrington). 
On  this  last  occasion  his  preconception  became  so  strong  that 
he  affirms  his  belief  that  the  whole  body  of  martins  of  his 
district  might  be  found  in  "secret  dormitories"  in  some 
shrubby  ground  not  more  than  three  hundred  yards  from  the 
village,  where  he  had  observed  that  they  were  in  the  habit  of 
roosting  in  October.  Thus  a  preconception,  based  on  the  false 
tradition  handed  down  to  him  by  Olaus  and  his  followers,  led 
to  a  misinterpretation  of  the  facts  before  him ;  and  as  those 
facts  were  limited  for  the  most  part  to  the  range  of  his 
observation  in  his  own  parish  (see  above,  p.  xxiv),  it  is 
hardly  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  true  explanation  of  them 
was  beyond  his  reach. 


TH  B 

NATURAL     HISTORY 

AND 

ANTIQUITIES 
o  P 

SELBORNE, 

IK      THE 

COUNTY    OF     SOUTHAMPTON: 

WITH 

ENGRAVINGS,    AND    AN    APPENDIX. 


—    —    —    "ego  Apis  Matinae 

•«  More  roodoque 

«•  Grata  carpcntls    —    —    —    per  laborem 
••  PluriraunV*    ——    —    —    —    —  Ho*. 

•*  Omnla  bene  defcribere,  quae  in  hoc  mundo,  a  Deo  fa£Va,  aut  Naturae  create  viribui , 
tlaborata  fuerunt,  opus  eft  non  unius  hominis,  nee  iinius  xvi.  Hinc  Fauna  Se  f&rvr 
utiliflunasj  bine  MoncSrafbi  prsftantiffimi."  ScoPOLl  AJiM.  HisT.  NAT. 


LONDON: 

PRINTED    BY    T.    BENSLEY; 
?OR    B.    WHITE    AMD    SON,    AT    HORACE'S    htAO,    FLSCT    $T«I£T« 


ADVERTISEMENT 
TO  THE  FIRST  EDITION 

THE  Author  of  the  following  Letters  takes  the  liberty,  with  all 
proper  deference,  of  laying  before  the  public  his  idea  of  paro- 
chial history ,  which,  he  thinks,  ought  to  consist  of  natural 
productions  and  occurrences  as  well  as  antiquities.  He  is 
also  of  opinion  that  if  stationary  men  would  pay  some  atten- 
tion to  the  districts  on  which  they  reside,  and  would  publish 
their  thoughts  respecting  the  objects  that  surround  them, 
from  such  materials  might  be  drawn  the  most  complete 
county-histories,  which  are  still  wanting  in  several  parts  of 
this  kingdom,  and  in  particular  in  the  county  of  Southampton. 

And  here  he  seizes  the  tirst  opportunity,  though  a  late 
one,  of  returning  his  most  grateful  acknowledgments  to  the 
reverend  the  President1  and  the  reverend  and  worthy  the 
Fellows  of  Magdalen  College  in  the  University  of  Oxford^  for 
their  liberal  behaviour  in  permitting  their  archives  to  be 
searched  by  a  member  of  their  own  society,2  so  far  as  the 
evidences  therein  contained  might  respect  the  parish  and 
priory  of  Selborne.  To  that  gentleman  also,  and  his  assis- 
tant, whose  labours  and  attention  could  only  be  equalled  by 
the  very  kind  manner  in  which  they  were  bestowed,  many 
and  great  obligations  are  also  due. 

Of  the  authenticity  of  the  documents  above-mentioned 
there  can  be  no  doubt,  since  they  consist  of  the  identical 
deeds  and  records  that  were  removed  to  the  College  from  the 
Priory  at  the  time  of  its  dissolution ;  and,  being  carefully 

^Dr.  Home,  known  by  his  work  on  the  Psalms.] 
2  [Dr.  Richard  Chandler.] 


xl  ADVERTISEMENT 

copied  on  the  spot,  may  be  depended  on 'as  genuine;  and, 
never  having  been  made  public  before,  may  gratify  the 
curiosity  of  the  antiquary,  as  well  as  establish  the  credit  of 
the  history. 

If  the  writer  should  at  all  appear  to  have  induced  any  of 
his  readers  to  pay  a  more  ready  attention  to  the  wonders  of 
the  Creation,  too  frequently  overlooked  as  common  occur- 
rences ;  or  if  he  should  by  any  means,  through  his  researches, 
have  lent  an  helping  hand  towards  the  enlargement  of  the 
boundaries  of  historical  and  topographical  knowledge;  or  if 
he  should  have  thrown  some  small  light  upon  ancient  customs 
and  manners,  and  especially  on  those  that  were  monastic; 
his  purpose  will  be  fully  answered.  But  if  he  should  not 
have  been  successful  in  any  of  these  his  intentions,  yet  there 
remains  this  consolation  behind — that  these  his  pursuits,  by 
keeping  the  body  and  mind  employed,  have,  under  Provi- 
dence, contributed  to  much  health  and  cheerfulness  of  spirits, 
even  to  old  age :  and,  what  still  adds  to  his  happiness,  have 
led  him  to  the  knowledge  of  a  circle  of  gentlemen  whose 
intelligent  communications,  as  they  have  afforded  him  much 
pleasing  information,  so,  could  he  flatter  himself  with  a  con- 
tinuation of  them,  would  they  ever  be  deemed  a  matter  of 
singular  satisfaction  and  improvement. 


GIL.  WHITE. 


Selborne, 
January  1st,  1788. 


THE 

NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  SELBORNE. 

LETTER  I. 

TO  THOMAS  PENNANT,  ESQUIRE. 

THE  parish  of  SELBORNE  lies  in  the  extreme  eastern  corner  of  the 
county  of  Hampshire,  bordering  on  the  county  of  Sussex,  and  not 
far  from  the  county  of  Surrey  ;  is  about  fifty  miles  south-west  of 
London,  in  latitude  51,  and  near  midway  between  the  towns  of 
Alton  and  Petersfield.  Being  very  large  and  extensive  it  abuts 
on  twelve  parishes,  two  of  which  are  in  Sussex,  viz.  Trotton  and 
JRogate.  If  you  begin  from  the  south  and  proceed  westward  the 
adjacent  parishes  are  Emshot,  Newton  Valence?  Faringdon,  Harteley 
Mauduit,  Great  Ward  le  ham,2  Kingsley,  Hedleigh,  Bramshot,  Trotton, 
Rogate,  Lysse,  and  Greatham.  f  The  soils  of  this  district  are  almost 
as  various  and  diversified  as  the  views  and  aspects.  The  high 
part  to  the  south-west  consists  of  a  vast  hill  of  chalk,  rising  three 
hundred  feet  above  the  village  ;  and  is  divided  into  a  sheep  down, 
the  high  wood,  and  a  long  hanging  wood  called  The  Hanger. 
The  covert  of  this  eminence  is  altogether  beech,  the  most  lovely 
of  all  forest  trees,  whether  we  consider  it's  smooth  rind  or  bark, 
it's  glossy  foliage,  or  graceful  pendulous  boughs.  The  down,  or 
sheep-walk,  is  a  pleasing  park-like  spot,  of  about  one  mile  by  half 
that  space,  jutting  out  on  the  verge  of  the  hill-country,  where  it 
begins  to  break  down  into  the  plains,  and  commanding  a  very 

1 "  Newton  Valence  derives  its  adjunct  from  William  de  Valentin,  half-brother 
to  Henry  III.,  who  held  the  manor  in  1273."— Moody.  The  name  in  Domesday 
Book  is  spelt  Newentone. — Bell. 

2  [  White  spells  the  name  thus  on  theoretical  grounds.      Worldham  is  the  present 
form.] 
1 


2  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

engaging  view,  being  an  assemblage  of  hill,  dale,  wood-lands, 
heath,  and  water.  The  prospect  is  bounded  to  the  south-east 
and  east  by  the  vast  range  of  mountains  called  The  Sussex  Downs, 
by  Guild-down  near  GuUdford,  and  by  the  Downs  round  Dorking 
and  Ryegate  in  Surrey,  to  the  north-east,  which  altogether,  with 
the  country  beyond  Alton  and  Farnham,  form  a  noble  and  extensive 
outline. 

At  the  foot  of  this  hill,  one  stage  or  step  from  the  uplands,  lies 
the  village,  which  consists  of  one  single  straggling  street,  three 
quarters  of  a  mile  in  length,  in  a  sheltered  vale,  and  running 
parallel  with  The  Hanger.1  The  houses  are  divided  from  the  hill 
by  a  vein  of  stiff  clay  (good  wheat-land),  yet  stand  on  a  rock  of 
white  stone,  little  in  appearance  removed  from  chalk ;  but  seems 
so  far  from  being  calcarious,  that  it  endures  extreme  heat.  Yet 
that  the  freestone  still  preserves  somewhat  that  is  analogous  to 
chalk,  is  plain  from  the  beeches  which  descend  as  low  as  those 
rocks  extend,  and  no  farther,  and  thrive  as  well  on  them,  where 
the  ground  is  steep,  as  on  the  chalks. 

The  cart-way  of  the  village  divides,  in  a  remarkable  manner, 
two  very  incongruous  soils.  To  the  south-west  is  a  rank  clay, 
that  requires  the  labour  of  years  to  render  it  mellow ;  while  the 
gardens  to  the  north-east,  and  small  enclosures  behind,  consist 
of  a  warm,  forward,  crumbling  mould,  called  black  malm,  which 
seems  highly  saturated  with  vegetable  and  animal  manure ;  and 
these  may  perhaps  have  been  the  original  site  of  the  town  ;  while 
the  woods  and  coverts  might  extend  down  to  the  opposite  bank. 

At  each  end  of  the  village,  which  runs  from  south-east  to  north- 
west, arises  a  small  rivulet :  that  at  the  north-west  end  frequently 
fails  ;  but  the  other  is  a  fine  perennial  spring,  little  influenced  by 
drought  or  wet  seasons,  called  Well-head.2  This  breaks  out  of 
some  high  grounds  joining  to  Nore  Hill,  a  noble  chalk  promon- 

1  [The  Hanger  and  Nore  Hill  are  of  chalk  ;  the  "  vein  of  stiff  clay  "  consists  of 
chalk  marl ;  the  "  rock  of  white  stone  "  belongs  to  the  upper  greensand  ;  the  "  rank 
clay"  is  the  chalk  marl  again,  while  the  "black  malm"  is  the  chloritic  marl,  a 
greenish  sand,  which  forms  the  top  bed  of  the  upper  greensand  (see  the  Introduc- 
tion).] 

2 This  spring  produced,  September  14,  1781,  after  a  severe  hot  summer,  and  a 
preceding  dry  spring  and  winter,  nine  gallons  of  water  in  a  minute,  which  is  five 
hundred  and  forty  in  an  hour,  and  twelve  thousand  nine  hundred  and  sixty,  or  two 
hundred  and  sixteen  hogsheads,  in  twenty-four  hours,  or  one  natural  day.  At  this 
time  many  of  the  wells  failed,  and  all  the  ponds  in  the  vales  were  dry. 

[One  Mr.  Mills,  since  White's  time,  enclosed  the  spring  by  a  cast-iron  plate 
bearing  a  lion's  mouth  and  two  windmills.  After  the  centenary  celebration  of 
Gilbert  White's  death,  a  subscription  was  made  to  bring  the  water  from  the  Well- 
head stream  to  stand-pipes  in  the  village.] 


OF  SELBOKNE  3 

tory,  remarkable  for  sending  forth  two  streams  into  two  different 
seas.  The  one  to  the  south  becomes  a  branch  of  the  Anm, 
running  to  Arundel,  and  so  falling  into  the  British  channel :  the 
other  to  the  north,1  the  Selborne  stream,  makes  one  branch  of 
the  Wey  ;  and,  meeting  the  Black-doivn  stream  at  Hedleigh,  and 
the  Alton  and  Farnham  stream  at  Til  ford-bridge,  swells  into  a  con- 
siderable river,  navigable  at  Godalming ;  2  from  whence  it  passes 
to  Guildford,  and  so  into  the  Thames  at  Weybridge  ;  and  thus  at 
the  Nore  into  the  German  ocean. 

Our  wells,  at  an  average,  run  to  about  sixty-three  feet,3  and 
when  sunk  to  that  depth  seldom  fail ;  but  produce  a  fine  limpid 
water,  soft  to  the  taste,  and  much  commended  by  those  who 
drink  the  pure  element,  but  which  does  not  lather  well  with 
soap. 

To  the  north-west,  north  and  east  of  the  village,  is  a  range  of 
fair  enclosures,  consisting  of  what  is  called  a  white  malm,4  a  sort 
of  rotten  or  rubble  stone,  which,  when  turned  up  to  the  frost  and 
rain,  moulders  to  pieces,  and  becomes  manure  to  itself.5 

Still  on  to  the  north-east,  and  a  step  lower,  is  a  kind  of  white 
land,  neither  chalk  nor  clay,  neither  fit  for  pasture  nor  for  the 
plough,  yet  kindly  for  hops,  which  root  deep  into  the  freestone, 
and  have  their  poles  and  wood  for  charcoal  growing  just  at  hand. 
This  white  soil  produces  the  brightest  hops. 

As  the  parish  still  inclines  down  towards  W aimer-forest,  at  the 
juncture  of  the  clays  and  sand6  the  soil  becomes  a  wet,  sandy 
loam,  remarkable  for  timber,  and  infamous  for  roads.  The  oaks 
of  Temple  and  Blackmoor  stand  high  in  the  estimation  of  purveyors, 
and  have  furnished  much  naval  timber ;  while  the  trees  on  the 
freestone  grow  large,  but  are  what  workmen  call  shakey,  and  so 
brittle  as  often  to  fall  to  pieces  in  sawing.  Beyond  the  sandy 

1  [In  orig.  there  is  a  full  stop  at  north.'] 

2  [  Artificially  navigable,  by  canal.     The  distance  of  the  Holt  from  water-carriage 
is  now  still  further  reduced.] 

3  [The  usual  depth  of  the  porous  upper  greensand,  which  rests  upon  an  imper- 
vious stratum,  the  gault.] 

4 [The  upper  greensand,  which  includes  the  "white  land"  mentioned  below. 
"  Malm,"  or  marl,  denotes  a  clayey  bed,  the  sandstones  being  locally  known  as 
"firestones,"  or  "freestones,"  and  the  limestones  as  "ragstones".  The  upper 
greensand  is  the  hop-country  of  Hampshire.  ] 

5  This  soil  produces  good  wheat  and  clover. 

6  [  Junction  of  the  gault  and  lower  greensand.     Temple  farm  stands  on  the  upper 
greensand,  close  to  the  gault,  Blackmoor  on  the  lower  greensand.     The  "  hungry 
lean  sand  "  marks  the  upper  measures  of  the  lower  greensand  (Folkestone  Beds), 
which  are  marked  in  the  south-eastern  counties  by  the  prevalence  of  heaths  and 
commons.] 


4  THE  NATUEAL  HISTOEY 

loam  the  soil  becomes  an  hungry  lean  sand,  till  it  mingles  with 
the  forest ;  and  will  produce  little  without  the  assistance  of  lime 
and  turnips. 


LETTER  II. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

IN  the  court  of  Norton  farm  house,  a  manor  farm  to  the  north- 
west of  the  village,  on  the  white  malms,  stood  within  these  twenty 
years  a  broad-leaved  elm,  or  wych  hazel,  ulmiis  folio  latissimo  scabro 
of  Ray,  which,  though  it  had  lost  a  considerable  leading  bough  in 
the  great  storm  in  the  year  1 703,  equal  to  a  moderate  tree,  yet, 
when  felled,  contained  eight  loads  of  timber ;  and,  being  too 
bulky  for  a  carriage,  was  sawn  off  at  seven  feet  above  the  butt, 
where  it  measured  near  eight  feet  in  the  diameter.  This  elm  I 
mention  to  show  to  what  a  bulk  planted  elms  may  attain  ;  as  this 
tree  must  certainly  have  been  such  from  it's  situation. 

In  the  centre  of  the  village,  and  near  the  church,  is  a  square 
piece  of  ground  surrounded  by  houses,  and  vulgarly  called  The 
Plestor.  In  the  midst  of  this  spot  stood,  in  old  times,  a  vast  oak, 
with  a  short  squat  body,  and  huge  horizontal  arms  extending 
almost  to  the  extremity  of  the  area.1  This  venerable  tree,  sur- 
rounded with  stone  steps,  and  seats  above  them,  was  the  delight 
of  old  and  young,  and  a  place  of  much  resort  in  summer  evenings  ; 
where  the  former  sat  in  grave  debate,  while  the  latter  frolicked 
and  danced  before  them.  Long  might  it  have  stood,  had  not 
the  amazing  tempest  in  1 703  overturned  it  at  once,  to  the  infinite 
regret  of  the  inhabitants,  and  the  vicar,  who  bestowed  several 
pounds  in  setting  it  in  it's  place  again :  but  all  his  care  could 
not  avail ;  the  tree  sprouted  for  a  time,  then  withered  and  died. 
This  oak  I  mention  to  show  to  what  a  bulk  planted  oaks  also  may 
arrive :  and  planted  this  tree  must  certainly  have  been,  as  will 
appear  from  what  will  be  said  farther  concerning  this  area,  when 
we  enter  on  the  antiquities  of  Selborne.  ' 

On  the  Blackmoor  estate  there  is  a  small  wood  called  Losel's, 
of  a  few  acres,  that  was  lately  furnished  with  a  set  of  oaks  of  a 
peculiar  growth  and  great  value ;  they  were  tall  and  taper  like 
firs,  but  standing  near  together  had  very  small  heads,  only  a  little 
brush  without  any  large  limbs.  About  twenty  years  ago  the 

J[The  site  of  the  oak  is  now  marked  by  a  sycamore  of  moderate  size.] 


OF  SELBORNE  5 

bridge  at  the  Toy,  near  Hampton  Court,  being  much  decayed, 
some  trees  were  wanted  for  the  repairs  that  were  fifty  feet  long 
without  bough,  and  would  measure  twelve  inches  diameter  at  the 
little  end.  Twenty  such  trees  did  a  purveyor  find  in  this  little 
wood,  with  this  advantage,  that  many  of  them  answered  the 
description  at  sixty  feet.  These  trees  were  sold  for  twenty 
pounds  apiece. 

In  the  centre  of  this  grove  there  stood  an  oak,  which,  though 
shapely  and  tall  on  the  whole,  bulged  out  into  a  large  excrescence 
about  the  middle  of  the  stem.  On  this  a  pair  of  ravens  had  fixed 
their  residence  for  such  a  series  of  years,  that  the  oak  was  dis- 
tinguished by  the  title  of  The  Raven-tree.  Many  were  the  attempts 
of  the  neighbouring  youths  to  get  at  this  eyry :  the  difficulty 
whetted  their  inclinations,  and  each  was  ambitious  of  surmounting 
the  arduous  task.  But,  when  they  arrived  at  the  swelling,  it 
jutted  out  so  in  their  way,  and  was  so  far  beyond  their  grasp, 
that  the  most  daring  lads  were  awed,  and  acknowledged  the 
undertaking  to  be  too  hazardous.  So  the  ravens  built  on,  nest 
upon  nest,  in  perfect  security,  till  the  fatal  day  arrived  in  which 
the  wood  was  to  be  levelled.  It  was  in  the  month  of  February, 
when  those  birds  usually  sit.  The  saw  was  applied  to  the  butt, 
the  wedges  were  inserted  into  the  opening,  the  woods  echoed  to 
the  heavy  blows  of  the  beetle  or  mallet,  the  tree  nodded  to  it's 
fall ;  but  still  the  dam  sat  on.  At  last,  when  it  gave  way,  the 
bird  was  flung  from  her  nest ;  and,  though  her  parental  affection 
deserved  a  better  fate,  was  whipped  down  by  the  twigs,  which 
brought  her  dead  to  the  ground. 


LETTER  III. 

TO   THE   SAME. 

THE  fossil-shells  of  this  district,  and  sorts  of  stone,  such  as  have 
fallen  within  my  observation,  must  not  be  passed  over  in  silence. 
And  first  I  must  mention,  as  a  great  curiosity,  a  specimen  that 
was  plowed  up  in  the  chalky  fields,  near  the  side  of  the  Donm, 
and  given  to  me  for  the  singularity  of  it's  appearance,  which,  to 
an  incurious  eye,  seems  like  a  petrified  fish  of  about  four  inches 
long,  the  cardo  passing  for  an  head  and  mouth.  It  is  in  reality 
a  bivalve  of  the  Linncean  Genus  of  Mytilus,  and  the  species  of  Crista 
Galli ;  called  by  Lister,  Rastellum  ;  by  Rumphius,  Ostreum  plicatum 


6  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

minus ;  by  D'Argenville,  Auris  Porci,  s.  Crista  Galli ;  and  by  those 
who  make  collections  cock's  comb.  Though  I  applied  to  several 
such  in  London,  I  never  could  meet  with  an  entire  specimen ; 
nor  could  I  ever  find  in  books  any  engraving  from  a  perfect  one. 
In  the  superb  museum  at  Leicester-house l  permission  was  given  me 
to  examine  for  this  article ;  and,  though  I  was  disappointed  as 
to  the  fossil,  I  was  highly  gratified  with  the  sight  of  several  of 
the  shells  themselves  in  high  preservation.  This  bivalve  is  only 
known  to  inhabit  the  Indian  ocean,  where  it  fixes  itself  to  a  zoo- 
phyte, known  by  the  name  Gorgonia.  The  curious  foldings  of  the 
suture  the  one  into  the  other,  the  alternate  flutings  or  grooves, 
and  the  curved  form  of  my  specimen  being  much  easier  expressed 
by  the  pencil  than  by  words,  I  have  caused  it  to  be  drawn  and 
engraved.'^ 

Cornua  Ammonis  3  are  very  common  about  this  village.  As  we 
were  cutting  an  inclining  path  up  The  Hanger,  the  labourers  found 
them  frequently  on  that  steep,  just  under  the  soil,  in  the  chalk, 
and  of  a  considerable  size.  In  the  lane  above  Well-head,  in  the 
way  to  Emshot,  they  abound  in  the  bank  in  a  darkish  sort  of 
marl ;  and  are  usually  very  small  and  soft :  but  in  Clay's  Pond,  a 
little  farther  on,  at  the  end  of  the  pit,  where  the  soil  is  dug  out 
for  manure,  I  have  occasionally  observed  them  of  large  dimen- 
sions, perhaps  fourteen  or  sixteen  inches  in  diameter.  But  as 
these  did  not  consist  of  firm  stone,  but  were  formed  of  a  kind  of 
terra  lapidosa,  or  hardened  clay,  as  soon  as  they  were  exposed  to 
the  rains  and  frost  they  mouldered  away.  These  seemed  as  if 
they  were  a  very  recent  production.  In  the  chalk-pit,  at  the 
north-west  end  of  The  Hanger,  large  nautili  are  sometimes 
observed. 

In  the  very  thickest  strata  of  our  freestone,  and  at  considerable 
depths,  well-diggers  often  find  large  scallops  or  pectines,  having 
both  shells  deeply  striated,  and  ridged  and  furrowed  alternately. 
They  are  highly  impregnated  with,  if  not  wholly  composed  of, 
the  stone  of  the  quarry. 

1  [The  museum  at  Leicester  House  was  formed  by  Sir  Ashton  Lever  at  Alkring- 
ton,  near  Manchester,  and  afterwards  removed  to  London.  In  Letter  XVIII.  to 
Harrington,  White  calls  it  "  the  most  elegant  private  museum  in  Great  Britain". 
It  was  sold  by  lottery  in  1785,  and  dispersed  by  auction  in  1806.] 

2 [White's  fossil  is  Ostrea  carinata,  Schloth,  a  well-known  cretaceous  species. 
O&trea  crista-galliy  L.,  the  cockscomb  oyster  of  the  Indian  Ocean,  is  similar,  but  not 
identical.  ] 

3  [Ammonites.] 


OF  SELBORNE  7 

LETTER  IV. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

As  in  a  former  letter  the  freestone1  of  this  place  has  been  only 
mentioned  incidentally,  I  shall  here  become  more  particular. 

This  stone  is  in  great  request  for  hearth-stones,  and  the  beds 
of  ovens  :  and  in  lining  of  lime-kilns  it  turns  to  good  account ;  for 
the  workmen  use  sandy  loam  instead  of  mortar ;  the  sand  of 
which  fluxes,2  and  runs  by  the  intense  heat,  and  so  cases  over  the 
whole  face  of  the  kiln  with  a  strong  vitrified  coat  like  glass,  that 
it  is  well  preserved  from  injuries  of  weather,  and  endures  thirty 
or  forty  years.  When  chiselled  smooth,  it  makes  elegant  fronts 
for  houses,  equal  in  colour  and  grain  to  the  Bath  stone ;  and 
superior  in  one  respect,  that,  when  seasoned,  it  does  not  scale. 
Decent  chimney-pieces  are  worked  from  it  of  much  closer  and 
finer  grain  than  Portland ;  and  rooms  are  floored  with  it ;  but  it 
proves  rather  too  soft  for  this  purpose.  It  is  a  freestone,  cutting 
in  all  directions  ;  yet  has  something  of  a  grain  parallel  with  the 
horizon,  and  therefore  should  not  be  surbedded,  but  laid  in  the 
same  position  that  it  grows  in  the  quarry.3  On  the  ground  abroad 
this  fire-stone  will  not  succeed  for  pavements,  because,  probably 
some  degree  of  saltness  prevailing  within  it,  the  rain  tears  the 
slabs  to  pieces.4  Though  this  stone  is  too  hard  to  be  acted  on 
by  vinegar ;  yet  both  the  white  part,  and  even  the  blue  rag, 
ferments  strongly  in  mineral  acids.  Though  the  white  stone 
will  not  bear  wet,  yet  in  every  quarry  at  intervals  there  are  thin 
strata  of  blue  rag,5  which  resist  rain  and  frost ;  and  are  excellent 
for  pitching  of  stables,  paths  and  courts,  and  for  building  of  dry 
walls  against  banks  ;  a  valuable  species  of  fencing,  much  in  use 
in  this  village,  and  for  mending  of  roads.  This  rag  is  rugged  and 
stubborn,  and  will  not  hew  to  a  smooth  face ;  but  is  very  dur- 

1  [The  sandy  beds  of  the  upper  greensand.] 

2  There  may  probably  be  also  in  the  chalk  itself  that  is  burnt  for  lime  a  pro- 
portion of  sand  :  for  few  chalks  are  so  pure  as  to  have  none. 

3  To  surbed  stone  is  to  set  it  edgewise,  contrary  to  the  posture  it  had  in  the 
quarry,  says  Dr.  Plot,  Oxfordsh.  p.  77.     But  surbedding  does  not  succeed  in  our 
dry  walls ;  neither  do  we  use  it  so  in  ovens,  though  he  says  it  is  best  for  Teynton 
stone. 

4  "Firestone  is  full  of  salts,  and  has  no  sulphur :   must  be  close  grained,  and 
"  have  no  interstices.     Nothing  supports  fire  like  salts ;  saltstone  perishes  exposed 
"to  wet  and  frost." — Plofs  Staff.,  p.  152. 

6  [Calcareous  bands  of  the  upper  greensand.] 


8  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

able  :  yet,  as  these  strata  are  shallow  and  lie  deep,  large  quantities 
cannot  be  procured  but  at  considerable  expense.  Among  the 
blue  rags  turn  up  some  blocks  tinged  with  a  stain  of  yellow  or  rust 
colour,  which  seem  to  be  nearly  as  lasting  as  the  blue ;  and  every 
now  and  then  balls  of  a  friable  substance,  like  rust  of  iron,  called 
rust  balls. 

In  Wolmer  Forest  I  see  but  one  sort  of  stone,  called  by  the 
workmen  sand,  or  forest-stone.1  This  is  generally  of  the  colour  of 
rusty  iron,  and  might  probably  be  worked  as  iron  ore ;  is  very 
hard  and  heavy,  and  of  a  firm,  compact  texture,  and  composed  of 
a  small  roundish  crystalline  grit,  cemented  together  by  a  brown, 
terrene,  ferruginous  matter ;  will  not  cut  without  difficulty,  nor 
easily  strike  fire  with  steel.  Being  often  found  in  broad  flat 
pieces,  it  makes  good  pavement  for  paths  about  houses,  never 
becoming  slippery  in  frost  or  rain ;  is  excellent  for  dry  walls,  and 
is  sometimes  used  in  buildings.  In  many  parts  of  that  waste  it 
lies  scattered  on  the  surface  of  the  ground  ;  but  is  dug  on  Weaver  s 
Down,  a  vast  hill  on  the  eastern  verge  of  that  forest,  where  the 
pits  are  shallow,  and  the  stratum  thin.  This  stone  is  imperish- 
able. 

From  a  notion  of  rendering  their  work  the  more  elegant,  and 
giving  it  a  finish,  masons  chip  this  stone  into  small  fragments 
about  the  size  of  the  head  of  a  large  nail ;  and  then  stick  the 
pieces  into  the  wet  mortar  along  the  joints  of  their  freestone 
walls  :  this  embellishment  carries  an  odd  appearance,  and  has 
occasioned  strangers  sometimes  to  ask  us  pleasantly,  "  whether 
we  fastened  our  walls  together  with  tenpenny  nails  ".2 


LETTER  V. 

TO  THE   SAME. 

AMONG  the  singularities  of  this  place  the  two  rocky  hollow  lanes, 
the  one  to  Alton,2  and  the  other  to  the  forest,  deserve  our  atten- 
tion. These  roads,  running  through  the  malm  lands,  are,  by  the 
traffick  of  ages,  and  the  fretting  of  water,  worn  down  through  the 
first  stratum  of  our  freestone,  and  partly  through  the  second ;  so 

1  [The  Folkestone  beds  (top  of  upper  greensand).] 

2  [This  curious  embellishment  still  exists  in  some  old  walls,  and  notably  in  the 
western  wall  of  the  church. — Bell.'] 

3  [Parts  of  this  road,  now  impassable,  are  still  to  be  seen  at  Norton  farm.] 


OF  SELBORNE  9 

that  they  look  more  like  water-courses  than  roads ;  and  are 
bedded  with  naked  rag  for  furlongs  together.  In  many  places 
they  are  reduced  sixteen  or  eighteen  feet  beneath  the  level  of 
the  fields ;  and  after  floods,  and  in  frosts,  exhibit  very  grotesque 
and  wild  appearances,  from  the  tangled  roots  that  are  twisted 
among  the  strata,  and  from  the  torrents  rushing  down  their  broken 
sides  ;  and  especially  when  those  cascades  are  frozen  into  icicles, 
hanging  in  all  the  fanciful  shapes  of  frost-work.  These  rugged 
gloomy  scenes  affright  the  ladies  when  they  peep  down  into  them 
from  the  paths  above,  and  make  timid  horsemen  shudder  while 
they  ride  along  them ;  but  delight  the  naturalist  with  their 
various  botany,  and  particularly  with  their  curious  Jilices  with 
which  they  abound. 

The  manor  of  Selborne,  was  it  strictly  looked  after,  with  all  it's 
kindly  aspects,  and  all  it's  sloping  coverts,  would  swarm  with 
game  ;  even  now  hares,  partridges,  and  pheasants  abound ;  and 
in  old  days  woodcocks  were  as  plentiful.  There  are  few  quails, 
because  they  more  affect  open  fields  than  enclosures ;  after 
harvest  some  few  land -rails  are  seen. 

The  parish  of  Selborne,  by  taking  in  so  much  of  the  forest,  is 
a  vast  district.  Those  who  tread  the  bounds  are  employed  part 
of  three  days  in  the  business,  and  are  of  opinion  that  the  outline, 
in  all  it's  curves  and  indentings,  does  not  comprise  less  than 
thirty  miles. 

The  village  stands  in  a  sheltered  spot,  secured  by  The  Hanger 
from  the  strong  westerly  winds.  The  air  is  soft,  but  rather  moist 
from  the  effluvia  of  so  many  trees ;  yet  perfectly  healthy  and  free 
from  agues. 

The  quantity  of  rain  that  falls  on  it  is  very  considerable,  as 
may  be  supposed  in  so  woody  and  mountainous  a  district.  As  my 
experience  in  measuring  the  water  is  but  of  short  date,  I  am  not 
qualified  to  give  the  mean  quantity.1  I  only  know  that 

1 A  very  intelligent  gentleman  assures  me  (and  he  speaks  from  upwards  of  forty 
years'  experience)  that  the  mean  rain  of  any  place  cannot  be  ascertained  till  a 
person  has  measured  it  for  a  very  long  period.  "  If  I  had  only  measured  the  rain," 
says  he,  "for  the  four  first  years,  from  1740  to  1743,  I  should  have  said  the  mean 
"  rain  at  Lyndon  was  16^  inch,  for  the  year  ;  if  from  1740  to  1750,  18^  inches.  The 
"mean  rain  before  1763  was  20^;  from  1763  and  since,  25 £;  from  1770  to  1780, 
"26.  If  only  1773,  ^77^  and  J77S  had  been  measured,  Lyndon  mean  rain  would 
"  have  been  called  32  inches." 

[The  gentleman  here  alluded  to  was  Thomas  Barker,  Esq. ,  of  Lyndon  Hall,  in 
the  county  of  Rutland,  Gilbert  White's  brother-in-law. —-&?//. 

Bell  found  the  average  for  twenty-five  years  (1850-1874)  to  be  32*074  in.,  which 
is  much  above  the  average  for  England.] 


10 


THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 


Inch.  Hund. 


From  May 
From  Jan. 
From  Jan. 
From  Jan. 
From  Jan. 
From  Jan. 
From  Jan. 
From  Jan. 

,  I779»  to  the  en 
,  1780,  to  Jan. 
,  1781,  to  Jan. 
,  1782,  to  Jan. 
,  1783,  to  Jan. 
,  1784,  to  Jan. 
,  1785,  to  Jan. 
c,  1786,  to  Jan. 

dof  th 
1781 
1782 

1783 
1784 

1785 
1786 
1787 

28 
27 
30 
50 
33 
33 
3i 
39 


37  ! 

32 
71 
26! 
7i 

8° 
55 
57 


The  village  of  Selborne,  and  large  hamlet  of  Oakhanger,  with 
the  single  farms,  and  many  scattered  houses  along  the  verge  of 
the  forest,  contain  upwards  of  six  hundred  and  seventy  inhabi- 
tants.1 We  abound  with  poor ;  many  of  whom  are  sober  and 

1 A  STATE  of  the  Parish  of  SELBORNE,  taken  October  4,  1783. 

The  number  of  tenements  or  families,  136. 

The  number  of  inhabitants  in  the  street  is  313  \     Total,  676  :  near  five  inhabitants 
In  the  rest  of  the  parish      ....      363  J     to  each  tenement. 

In  the  time  of  the  Rev.  Gilbert  White,  vicar,  who  died  in  1727-8,  the  number  of 
inhabitants  was  computed  at  about  500. 

Average  of  baptisms  for  60  years. 


From  1720  to  1729,  both/ 
years  inclus.  \ 

From  1730  to  1739,  both/ 
years  inclus.  \ 

From  1740  to  1749,  incl.  -j 
From  1750  to  1759,  incl.  •! 
From  1760  to  1769,  incl.  -j 
From  1770  to  1779,  incl.  | 


Males 

Females 

Males 

Females 

Males 

Females 

Males 

Females 

Males 


6,9  \ 
6,0  / 
8,2 1 
7,i( 
9,2  \ 
6,6  j 
7,61 


12,9 
15,3 
15,8 
15.7 
18,0 
20,3 


Males          10,5 
Females        9,8, 
Total  of  baptisms  of  Males,       515  )      0 

Females,    465)  98° 

Total  of  baptisms  from  1720  to  1779,  both  inclusive  ...  60  years 
Average  of  burials  for  60  years. 


980. 


From  1720  to  1729,  both/     Males            4,8\ 

years  inclus.                   \     Females        5,1]" 

9,9 

From  1730  to  1739,  both  /     Males            4,8) 

years  inclus.                   \     Females        5,8J 

IO,6 

From  I74o  to  X749,  incl.  {     j^        jjj} 

8,4 

From  I75o  to  ,759,  incl.  {     Jg^e,        J,?} 

10,0 

From  I76o  to  I769,  incl.  {     ^        ^} 

13,4 

From  1770  to  1779,  incl.  {     ^^        |'j} 

n,7 

Total  of  burials  of  Males,        315  \  6 

a             >,           Females,    325  /     ^ 

OF  SELBORNE 


11 


industrious,  and  live  comfortably  in  good  stone  or  brick  cottages, 
which  are  glazed,  and  have  chambers  above  stairs  :  mud  buildings 
we  have  none.  Besides  the  employment  from  husbandry,  the 
men  work  in  hop  gardens,  of  which  we  have  many  ;  and  fell  and 
bark  timber.  In  the  spring  and  summer  the  women  weed  the 
corn ;  and  enjoy  a  second  harvest  in  September  by  hop  picking. 
Formerly,  in  the  dead  months  they  availed  themselves  greatly 
by  spinning  wool,  for  making  of  barragons,  a  genteel  corded  stuff, 
much  in  vogue  at  that  time  for  summer  wear ;  and  chiefly 
manufactured  at  Alton,  a  neighbouring  town,  by  some  of  the 
people  called  Quakers  :  but  from  circumstances  this  trade  is  at 

Total  of  burials  from  1720  to  1779,  both  inclusive  ...  60  years  .  .  .  640. 

Baptisms  exceed  burials  by  more  than  one  third. 
Baptisms  of  Males  exceed  Females  by  one  tenth,  or  one  in  ten. 

Burials  of  Females  exceed  Males  by  one  in  thirty. 
It  appears  that  a  child,  born  and  bred  in  this  parish,  has  an  equal  chance  to  live 

above  forty  years. 
Twins  thirteen  times,  many  of  whom  dying  young  have  lessened  the  chance 

for  life. 
Chances  for  life  in  men  and  women  appear  to  be  equal. 


A  TABLE  of  the  Baptisms,   Burials,  and  Marriages,  from  January,  2,  1761,  to 
December  25,  1780,  in  the  Parish  of  SELBORNE. 


BAPTISMS. 


M. 

F. 

Tot. 

M. 

F. 

Tot. 

1761. 

8 

IO 

18 

2 

4 

6 

3 

1762. 

7 

8 

IS 

10 

14 

24 

6 

1763. 
1764. 

8 
ii 

10 

9 

18 
20 

3 

10 

4 
8 

7 

18 

1 

1765- 

12 

6 

18 

9 

7 

16 

6 

1766. 

9 

13 

22 

10 

6 

16 

4 

1767. 

14 

5 

19 

6 

5 

ii 

2 

1768. 

7 

6 

13 

2 

5 

7 

6 

1769. 

9 

14 

23 

6 

5 

ii 

2 

1770. 
1771. 

10 
IO 

J3 

S 

4 
3 

7 

4 

ii 
7 

3 

4 

1772. 

II 

10 

21 

6 

10 

16 

3 

1773- 

8 

5 

13 

7 

5 

12 

3 

1774- 

6 

X3 

19 

2 

8 

10 

i 

1775. 

20 

7 

27 

13 

8 

21 

6 

1776. 

ii 

10 

21 

4 

6 

10 

6 

1777. 

8 

13 

21 

7 

3 

10 

4 

1778. 

7 

i3 

20 

3 

4 

7 

5 

1779. 

14 

8 

22 

5 

6 

ii 

5 

1780. 

8 

9 

17 

ii 

4 

15 

3 

198 

1  88 

386 

123 

123 

^6 

83~ 

During  this  period  of  twenty  years  the  births  of  males  exceeded  those  cf 

females  .  .  .  10. 

The  burials  of  each  sex  were  equal. 
And  the  births  exceeded  the  deaths  .  .   .  140. 


12  THE  NATUKAL  HISTORY 

an  end.1      The  inhabitants   enjoy  a  good  share   of  health  and 
Jongevity ;  and  the  parish  swarms  with  children. 


LETTER  VI. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

SHOULD  I  omit  to  describe  with  some  exactness  the  forest  of 
Wolmer,  of  which  three  fifths  perhaps  lie  in  this  parish,  my 
account  of  Selborne  would  be  very  imperfect,  as  it  is  a  district 
abounding  with  many  curious  productions,  both  animal  and  vege- 
table ;  and  has  often  afforded  me  much  entertainment  both  as  a 
sportsman  and  as  a  naturalist. 

The  royal  forest  of  Wolmer  is  a  tract  of  land  of  about  seven 
miles  in  length,  by  two  and  a  half  in  breadth,  running  nearly 
from  North  to  South,  and  is  abutted  on,  to  begin  to  the  South, 
and  so  to  proceed  eastward,  by  the  parishes  of  Greatham,  Lysse, 
Rogate,  and  Trotton,  in  the  county  of  Sussex ;  by  Bramshot,  Hed- 
leigh,  and  Kingsley.  This  royalty  consists  entirely  of  sand  covered 
with  heath  and  fern  ;  but  is  somewhat  diversified  with  hills  and 
dales,  without  having  one  standing  tree  in  the  whole  extent.2 
In  the  bottoms,  where  the  waters  stagnate,  are  many  bogs,  which 
formerly  abounded  with  subterraneous  trees  ;  though  Dr.  Plot 
says  positively,3  that  "there  never  were  any  fallen  trees  hidden 
"  in  the  mosses  of  the  southern  counties  ".  But  he  was  mistaken  : 
for  I  myself  have  seen  cottages  on  the  verge  of  this  wild  district, 
whose  timbers  consisted  of  a  black  hard  wood,  looking  like  oak, 
which  the  owners  assured  me  they  procured  from  the  bogs  by 
probing  the  soil  with  spits,  or  some  such  instruments :  but  the 
peat  is  so  much  cut  out,  and  the  moors  have  been  so  well  exa- 
mined, that  none  has  been  found  of  late.4  Besides  the  oak,  I 

1  Since  the  passage  above  was  written,  I  am  happy  in  being  able  to  say  that  the 
spinning  employment  is  a  little  revived,  to  the  no  small  comfort  of  the  industrious 
housewife. 

2 [Much  of  Wolmer  Forest  is  now  enclosed  and  planted.] 

3  See  his  Hist,  of  Staffordshire. 

4  Old  people  have  assured  me,  that  on  a  winter's  morning  they  have  discovered 
these  trees,  in  the  bogs,  by  the  hoar  frost,  which  lay  longer  over  the  space  where 
they  were  concealed,  than  on  the  surrounding  morass.     Nor  does  this  seem  to  be 
a  fanciful  notion,  but  consistent  with  true  philosophy.     Dr.  Hales  saith,  ' '  That  the 
"  warmth  of  the  earth,  at  some  depth  under  ground,  has  an  influence  in  promoting 
"  a  thaw,  as  well  as  the  change  of  the  weather  from  a  freezing  to  a  thawing  state, 
"is  manifest,  from  this  observation,  viz.,   Nov.   29,  1731,  a  little  snow   having 
4 '  fallen  in  the  night,  it  was,  by  eleven  the  next  morning,  mostly  melted  away  on  the 


OF  SELBOENE  13 

have  also  been  shown  pieces  of  fossil-wood  of  a  paler  colour,  and 
softer  nature,  which  the  inhabitants  called  fir :  but,  upon  a  nice 
examination,  and  trial  by  fire,  I  could  discover  nothing  resinous 
in  them ;  and  therefore  rather  suppose  that  they  were  parts  of  a 
willow  or  alder,  or  some  such  aquatic  tree. 

This  lonely  domain  is  a  very  agreeable  haunt  for  many  sorts  of 
wild  fowls,  which  not  only  frequent  it  in  the  winter,  but  breed 
there  in  the  summer ;  such  as  lapwings,  snipes,  wild-ducks,  and, 
as  I  have  discovered  within  these  few  years,  teals.  Partridges  in 
vast  plenty  are  bred  in  good  seasons  on  the  verge  of  this  forest, 
into  which  they  love  to  make  excursions :  and  in  particular,  in 
the  dry  summer  of  1740  and  1741,  and  some  years  after,  they 
swarmed  to  such  a  degree  that  parties  of  unreasonable  sportsmen 
killed  twenty  and  sometimes  thirty  brace  in  a  day. 

But  there  was  a  nobler  species  of  game  in  this  forest,  now 
extinct,  which  I  have  heard  old  people  say  abounded  much 
before  shooting  flying  became  so  common,  and  that  was  the  heath- 
cock,  black  game,  or  grouse.  When  I  was  a  little  boy  I  recollect 
one  coming  now  and  then  to  my  father's  table.  The  last  pack 
remembered  was  killed  about  thirty-five  years  ago ;  and  within 
these  ten  years  one  solitary  grey  hen  was  sprung  by  some 
beagles  in  beating  for  a  hare.  The  sportsmen  cried  out,  "A  hen 
pheasant "  ;  but  a  gentleman  present,  who  had  often  seen  grouse 
in  the  north  of  England,  assured  me  that  it  was  a  greyhen.1 

Nor  does  the  loss  of  our  black  game  prove  the  only  gap  in  the 
Fauna  Selbornieims  ;  for  another  beautiful  link  in  the  chain  of 
beings  is  wanting,  I  mean  the  red  deer,  which  toward  the  be- 
ginning of  this  century  amounted  to  about  five  hundred  head, 

'  surface  of  the  earth,  except  in  several  places  in  Bushy-park*  where  there  were 

'  drains  dug  and  covered  with  earth,  on  which  the  snow  continued  to  lie,  whether 

'  those  drains  were  full  of  water  or  dry ;  as  also  where  elm-pipes  lay  under  ground  : 

'  a  plain  proof  this,  that  those  drains  intercepted  the  warmth  of  the  earth  from 

'  ascending  from  greater  depths  below  them  :  for  the  snow  lay  where  the  drain  had 

1  more  than  four  feet  depth  of  earth  over  it.     It  continued  also  to  lie  on  thatch, 

'  tiles,  and  the  tops  of  walls."     See  Hales 's  Hsemastatics  :  p.  360.     Quere  :  might 

not  such  observations  be  reduced  to  domestic  use,  by  promoting  the  discovery  of 

old  obliterated  drains  and  wells  about  houses  ;  and  in  Roman  stations  and  camps 

lead  to  the  finding  of  pavements,  baths  and  graves,  and  other  hidden  relics  of 

curious  antiquity? 

*  [In  orig.  Bushy  is  misprinted  Busby.} 

1  [  Tetrao  tetrix.  L.  Bell  (1877)  notes  that  this  grouse  is  still  occasionally  met  with 
at  Wolmer,  and  this  not  as  the  result  of  any  recent  importation  from  other  localities, 
but  as  a  voluntary  visitant.  From  Hampshire  westwards  to  Exmoor  it  may  still 
be  found  in  suitable  places.] 


14  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

and  made  a  stately  appearance.  There  is  an  old  keeper,  now 
alive,  named  Adams,  whose  great  grandfather  (mentioned  in  a 
perambulation  taken  in  1635),  grandfather,  father  and  self,  en- 
joyed the  head  keepership  of  Wolmer  forest  in  succession  for 
more  than  an  hundred  years.  This  person  assures  me,  that  his 
father  has  often  told  him,  that  Queen  Anne,  as  she  was  journeying 
on  the  Portsmouth  road,  did  not  think  the  forest  of  Wolmer  beneath 
her  royal  regard.  For  she  came  out  of  the  great  road  at  Lippock, 
which  is  just  by,  and,  reposing  herself  on  a  bank  smoothed  for  that 
purpose,  lying  about  half  a  mile  to  the  east  of  Wolmer-pond,  and 
still  called  Queens-bank,  saw  with  great  complacency  and  satis- 
faction the  whole  herd  of  red  deer  brought  by  the  keepers  along 
the  vale  before  her,  consisting  then  of  about  five  hundred  head. 
A  sight  this  worthy  the  attention  of  the  greatest  sovereign  !  But 
he  further  adds  that,  by  means  of  the  Waltham  blacks,  or,  to  use 
his  own  expression,  as  soon  as  they  began  blacking,  they  were 
reduced  to  about  fifty  head,  and  so  continued  decreasing  till  the 
time  of  the  late  Duke  of  Cumberland.  It  is  now  more  than  thirty 
years  ago  that  his  highness  sent  down  an  huntsman,  and  six 
yeomen -prickers,  in  scarlet  jackets  laced  with  gold,  attended  by 
the  stag-hounds  ;  ordering  them  to  take  every  deer  in  this  forest 
alive,  and  convey  them  in  carts  to  Windsor.  In  the  course  of  the 
summer  they  caught  every  stag,  some  of  which  showed  extraor- 
dinary diversion :  but,  in  the  following  winter,  when  the  hinds 
were  also  carried  off,  such  fine  chases  were  exhibited  as  served 
the  country  people  for  matter  of  talk  and  wonder  for  years  after- 
wards. I  saw  myself  one  of  the  yeomen-prickers  single  out  a  stag 
from  the  herd,  and  must  confess  that  it  was  the  most  curious  feat 
of  activity  I  ever  beheld,  superior  to  anything  in  Mr.  Astleys 
riding-school.  The  exertions  made  by  the  horse  and  deer  much 
exceeded  all  my  expectations  ;  though  the  former  greatly  excelled 
the  latter  in  speed.  When  the  devoted  deer  was  separated  from 
his  companions,  they  gave  him,  by  their  watches,  law,  as  they 
called  it,  for  twenty  minutes  ;  when,  sounding  their  horns,  the 
stop- dogs  were  permitted  to  pursue,  and  a  most  gallant  scene 
ensued.1 

1  [See  "  Hounds  "  in  Observations  on  Quadrupeds.] 


OF  SELBOENE  15 

LETTER  VII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

THOUGH  large  herds  of  deer  do  much  harm  to  the  neighbourhood, 
yet  the  injury  to  the  morals  of  the  people  is  of  more  moment 
than  the  loss  of  their  crops.  The  temptation  is  irresistible ;  for 
most  men  are  sportsmen  by  constitution :  and  there  is  such  an 
inherent  spirit  for  hunting  in  human  nature,  as  scarce  any  inhibi- 
tions can  restrain.  Hence,  towards  the  beginning  of  this  century 
all  this  country  was  wild  about  deer-stealing.  Unless  he  was 
a  hunter,  as  they  affected  to  call  themselves,  no  young  person 
was  allowed  to  be  possessed  of  manhood  or  gallantry.  The  Wal- 
tham  blacks  at  length  committed  such  enormities,  that  government 
was  forced  to  interfere  with  that  severe  and  sanguinary  act  called 
the  black  act,1  which  now  comprehends  more  felonies  than  any 
law  that  ever  was  framed  before.  And,  therefore,  a  late  bishop 
of  Winchester,  when  urged  to  re-stock  Waliham  chase,'2'  refused, 
from  a  motive  worthy  of  a  prelate,  replying  that  "  it  had  done 
mischief  enough  already  ". 

Our  old  race  of  deer-stealers  are  hardly  extinct  yet :  it  was 
but  a  little  while  ago  that,  over  their  ale,  they  used  to  recount 
the  exploits  of  their  youth  ;  such  as  watching  the  pregnant  hind 
to  her  lair,  and,  when  the  calf  was  dropped,  paring  its  feet  with 
a  penknife  to  the  quick  to  prevent  it's  escape,  till  it  was  large 
and  fat  enough  to  be  killed ;  the  shooting  at  one  of  their  neigh- 
bours with  a  bullet  in  a  turnip-field  by  moonshine,  mistaking  him 
for  a  deer ;  and  the  losing  a  dog  in  the  following  extraordinary 
manner : — Some  fellows,  suspecting  that  a  calf  new-fallen  was 
deposited  in  a  certain  spot  of  thick  fern,  went,  with  a  lurcher,  to 
surprise  it ;  when  the  parent-hind  rushed  out  of  the  brake,  and, 
taking  a  vast  spring  with  all  her  feet  close  together,  pitched 
upon  the  neck  of  the  dog,  and  broke  it  short  in  two. 

Another  temptation  to  idleness  and  sporting  was  a  number  of 
rabbits,  which  possessed  all  the  hillocks  and  dry  places  :  but  these 
being  inconvenient  to  the  huntsmen,  on  account  of  their  burrows, 
when  they  came  to  take  away  the  deer,  they  permitted  the 
country  people  to  destroy  them  all. 

Such  forests  and  wastes,  when  their  allurements  to  irregularities 

1  Statute  9  Geo.  I.  c.  22. 

2  This  chase  remains  un-stocked  to  this  day  ;  the  bishop  was  Dr.  Hoadly. 


16  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

are  removed,  are  of  considerable  service  to  neighbourhoods  that 
verge  upon  them,  by  furnishing  them  with  peat  and  turf  for  their 
firing  ;  with  fuel  for  the  burning  their  lime ;  and  with  ashes  for 
their  grasses ;  and  by  maintaining  their  geese  and  their  stock  of 
young  cattle  at  little  or  no  expense. 

The  manor-farm  of  the  parish  of  Greatham  has  an  admitted 
claim,  I  see,  (by  an  old  record  taken  from  the  Tower  of  London) 
of  turning  all  live  stock  on  the  forest,  at  proper  seasons,  bidentibus 
exceptis.1  The  reason,  I  presume,  why  sheep 2  are  excluded,  is, 
because,  being  such  close  grazers,  they  would  pick  out  all  the 
finest  grasses,  and  hinder  the  deer  from  thriving. 

Though  (by  statute  4  and  5  W.  and  Manj,  c.  23)  "  to  burn  on 
"  any  waste,  between  Candlemas  and  Midsummer,  any  grig,  ling, 
"  heath  and  furze,  goss  or  fern,  is  punishable  with  whipping  and 
"  confinement  in  the  house  of  correction "  ;  yet,  in  this  forest, 
about  March  or  April,  according  to  the  dryness  of  the  season, 
such  vast  heath-fires  are  lighted  up,  that  they  often  get  to  a 
masterless  head,  and,  catching  the  hedges,  have  sometimes  been 
communicated  to  the  underwoods,  woods,  and  coppices,  where 
great  damage  has  ensued.  The  plea  for  these  burnings  is,  that, 
when  the  old  coat  of  heath,  &c.,  is  consumed,  young  will  sprout 
up,  and  afford  much  tender  brouze  for  cattle ;  but,  where  there 
is  large  old  furze,  the  fire,  following  the  roots,  consumes  the  very 
ground ;  so  that  for  hundreds  of  acres  nothing  is  to  be  seen  but 
smother  and  desolation,  the  whole  circuit  round  looking  like  the 
cinders  of  a  volcano ;  and,  the  soil  being  quite  exhausted,  no 
traces  of  vegetation  are  to  be  found  for  years.  These  conflagra- 
tions, as  they  take  place  usually  with  a  north-east  or  east  wind, 
much  annoy  this  village  with  their  smoke,  and  often  alarm  the 
country ;  and,  once  in  particular,  I  remember  that  a  gentleman, 
who  lives  beyond  Andover,  coming  to  my  house,  when  he  got  on 
the  downs  between  that  town  and  Winchester,  at  twenty-five  miles' 
distance,  was  surprised  much  with  smoke  and  a  hot  smell  of  fire ; 
and  concluded  that  Alresford  was  in  flames ;  but,  when  he  came 
to  that  town,  he  then  had  apprehensions  for  the  next  village, 
and  so  on  to  the  end  of  his  journey. 

On  two  of  the  most  conspicuous  eminences  of  this  forest  stand 
two  arbours  or  bowers,  made  of  the  boughs  of  oaks  ;  the  one  called 

1  For  this  privilege  the  owner  of  that  estate  used  to  pay  to  the  king  annually 
seven  bushels  of  oats. 

2  In  The  Holt,  where  a  full  stock  of  fallow-deer  has  been  kept  up  till  lately,  no 
sheep  are  admitted  to  this  day. 


OF  SELBOENE  17 

Waldon- lodge,  the  other  Brimstone-lodge  :  these  the  keepers  renew 
annually  on  the  feast  of  St.  Barnabas,  taking  the  old  materials  for 
a  perquisite.  The  farm  called  Blackmoor,  in  this  parish,  is  obliged 
to  find  the  posts  and  brush-wood  for  the  former ;  while  the  farms 
at  Greatham,  in  rotation,  furnish  for  the  latter ;  and  are  all 
enjoined  to  cut  and  deliver  the  materials  at  the  spot.  This 
custom  I  mention,  because  I  look  upon  it  to  be  of  very  remote 
antiquity. 


LETTER  VIII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

ON  the  verge  of  the  forest,  as  it  is  now  circumscribed,  are  three 
considerable  lakes,  two  in  Oakhanger,  of  which  I  have  nothing 
particular  to  say ;  and  one  called  Bin's,  or  Bean's  pond,1  which  is 
worthy  the  attention  of  a  naturalist  or  a  sportsman.  For,  being 
crowded  at  the  upper  end  with  willows,  and  with  the  carex 
cespitosa,2  it  affords  such  a  safe  and  pleasing  shelter  to  wild  ducks, 
teals,  snipes,  &c.  that  they  breed  there.  In  the  winter  this 
covert  is  also  frequented  by  foxes,  and  sometimes  by  pheasants ; 
and  the  bogs  produce  many  curious  plants  (for  which  consult 
Letter  XLII.  to  Mr.  Barrington). 

By  a  perambulation  of  Wolmer  forest  and  The  Holt,  made  in 
1635,  and  in  the  eleventh  year  of  Charles  the  First  (which  now 
lies  before  me),  it  appears  that  the  limits  of  the  former  are  much 
circumscribed.  For,  to  say  nothing  of  the  farther  side,  with 
which  I  am  not  so  well  acquainted,  the  bounds  on  this  side,  in 
old  times,  came  into  Binswood ;  and  extended  to  the  ditch  of 
Ward  le  ham-park,  in  which  stands  the  curious  mount  called  King 
John's  Hill,  and  Lodge  Hill;  and  to  the  verge  of  Hartley  Mauduit, 
called  Mauduit-hatch  ;  comprehending  also  Short-heath,  Oakhanger, 
and  Oakwoods  ;  a  large  district,  now  private  property,  though  once 
belonging  to  the  royal  domain. 

It  is  remarkable  that  the  term  purlieu  is  never  once  mentioned 
in  this  long  roll  of  parchment.  It  contains,  besides  the  perambu- 
lation, a  rough  estimate  of  the  value  of  the  timbers,  which  were 

1[Now  drained.     The  covert  has  disappeared.] 

2  I  mean  that  sort  which,  rising  into  tall  hassocks,  is  called  by  the  foresters 
torrets ;  a  corruption,  I  suppose,  of  turrets. 

Note.     In  the  beginning  of  the  summer  1787  the  royal  forests  of  Wolmer  and 
Holt  were  measured  by  persons  sent  down  by  government. 
a 


18  THE  NATURAL  HISTOEY 

considerable,  growing  at  that  time  in  the  district  of  The  Holt ; 
and  enumerates  the  officers,  superior  and  inferior,  of  those  joint 
forests,  for  the  time  being,  and  their  ostensible  fees  and  per- 
quisites. In  those  days,  as  at  present,  there  were  hardly  any 
trees  in  Wolmer  forest. 

Within  the  present  limits  of  the  forest  are  three  considerable 
lakes,  Hogmer,  Cranmer,  and  Wolmer ;  all  of  which  are  stocked 
with  carp,  tench,  eels,  and  perch :  but  the  fish  do  not  thrive  well, 
because  the  water  is  hungry,  and  the  bottoms  are  a  naked  sand.1 

A  circumstance  respecting  these  ponds,  though  by  no  means 
peculiar  to  them,  I  cannot  pass  over  in  silence ;  and  that  is,  that 
instinct  by  which  in  summer  all  the  kine,  whether  oxen,  cows, 
calves,  or  heifers,  retire  constantly  to  the  water  during  the  hotter 
hours ;  where,  being  more  exempt  from  flies,  and  inhaling  the 
coolness  of  that  element,  some  belly  deep,  and  some  only  to  mid- 
leg,  they  ruminate  and  solace  themselves  from  about  ten  in  the 
morning  till  four  in  the  afternoon,  and  then  return  to  their  feeding. 
During  this  great  proportion  of  the  day  they  drop  much  dung,  in 
which  insects  nestle ;  and  so  supply  food  for  the  fish,  which 
would  be  poorly  subsisted  but  from  this  contingency.  Thus 
Nature,  who  is  a  great  economist,  converts  the  recreation  of  one 
animal  to  the  support  of  another !  Thomson,  who  was  a  nice 
observer  of  natural  occurrences,  did  not  let  this  pleasing  circum- 
stance escape  him.  He  says,  in  his  Summer, 

1 A  various  group  the  herds  and  flocks  compose  : 

' on  the  grassy  bank 

'  Some  ruminating  lie  ;  while  others  stand 
'  Half  in  the  flood,  and,  often  bending,  sip 
'The  circling  surface." 

Wolmer-pond,  so  called,  I  suppose,  for  eminence  sake,  is  a  vast 
lake  for  this  part  of  the  world,  containing,  in  it's  whole  circum- 
ference, 2,646  yards,  or  very  nearly  a  mile  and  an  half.  The  length 
of  the  north-west  and  opposite  side  is  about  704  yards,  and  the 
breadth  of  the  south-west  end  about  456  yards.  This  measure- 
ment, which  I  caused  to  be  made  with  good  exactness,  gives  an 
area  of  about  sixty- six  acres,  exclusive  of  a  large  irregular  arm  at 
the  north-east  corner,  which  we  did  not  take  into  the  reckoning. 

1[It  is  remarkable  that  these  three  ponds  are  named  respectively  after  three 
animals  which,  formerly  indigenous  in  this  country,  are  now  extinct.  Hogmer 
after  the  wild  boar,  Cranmer  after  the  crane,  and  Wolmer^  anciently  Wolvemere, 
after  the  wolf,  which  doubtless  formerly  haunted  this  wild  district.  The  fish 
mentioned  in  the  text  are  now,  I  believe,  quite  extinct  in  these  ponds. — Bell.] 


OF  SELBORNE  19 

On  the  face  of  this  expanse  of  waters,  and  perfectly  secure 
from  fowlers,  lie  all  day  long,  in  the  winter  season,  vast  flocks  of 
ducks,  teals,  and  widgeons,  of  various  denominations  ;  where  they 
preen  and  solace,  and  rest  themselves,  till  towards  sun-set,  when 
they  issue  forth  in  little  parties  (for  in  their  natural  state  they 
are  all  birds  of  the  night)  to  feed  in  the  brooks  and  meadows ; 
returning  again  with  the  dawn  of  the  morning.  Had  this  lake 
an  arm  or  two  more,  and  were  it  planted  round  with  thick  covert 
(for  now  it  is  perfectly  naked),  it  might  make  a  valuable  decoy. 

Yet  neither  it's  extent,  nor  the  clearness  of  it's  water,  nor  the 
resort  of  various  and  curious  fowls,  nor  it's  picturesque  groups  of 
cattle,  can  render  this  meer  so  remarkable  as  the  great  quantity 
of  coins  that  were  found  in  it's  bed  about  forty  years  ago.  But, 
as  such  discoveries  more  properly  belong  to  the  antiquities  of  this 
place,  I  shall  suppress  all  particulars  for  the  present,  till  I  enter 
professedly  on  my  series  of  letters  respecting  the  more  remote 
history  of  this  village  and  district. 


LETTER  IX. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

BY  way  of  supplement,  I  shall  trouble  you  once  more  on  this 
subject,  to  inform  you  that  Wolmer,  with  her  sister  forest  Ayles 
Holt,  alias  Alice  Holt,1  as  it  is  called  in  old  records,  is  held  by 
grant  from  the  crown  for  a  term  of  years. 

The  grantees  that  the  author  remembers  are  Brigadier- General 
Emanuel  Scroope  Howe,  and  his  lady,  Ruperta,  who  was  a  natural 
daughter  of  Prince  Rupert  by  Margaret  Hughs  ;  a  Mr.  Mordaunt, 
of  the  Peterborough  family,  who  married  a  dowager  lady  Pem- 
broke ;  Henry  Bilson  Legge  and  lady ;  and  now  Lord  Stawel,  their 
son. 

The  lady  of  General  Howe  lived  to  an  advanced  age,  long 
surviving  her  husband ;  and,  at  her  death,  left  behind  her  many 
curious  pieces  of  mechanism  of  her  father's  constructing,  who 
was  a  distinguished  mechanic  and  artist,2  as  well  as  warrior ; 

1 "  In  Rot.  Inquisit.  de  statu  forest,  in  Scaccar.  36.  Ed.  3.  it  is  called  Aisholt." 
In  the  same,  "  Tit.   Woolmer  and  Aisholt  Hantisc.  Dominus  Rex  habet   unam 

"  capellam  in  haia  sua  de  Kingesle".     "  Haia,  sepes}  sepimentum,  parcus  :  a  Gall. 

haie  and  haye."     Spelman's  Glossary. 

2  This  prince  was  the  inventor  of  mezzotinto.      [Not  the  inventor,   who  was 

Ludwig  von  Siegen,  but  the  introducer  of  mezzotint  into  England.] 


20  THE  NATUEAL  HISTORY 

and,  among  the  rest,  a  very  complicated  clock,  lately  in  pos- 
session of  Mr.  Elmer,  the  celebrated  game-painter  at  Farnham, 
in  the  county  of  Surrey. 

Though  these  two  forests  are  only  parted  by  a  narrow  range 
of  enclosures,  yet  no  two  soils  can  be  more  different :  for  The 
Holt  consists  of  a  strong  loam,  of  a  miry  nature,  carrying  a  good 
turf,  and  abounding  with  oaks  that  grow  to  be  large  timber ; 
while  Wolmer  is  nothing  but  a  hungry,  sandy,  barren  waste.1 

The  former,  being  all  in  the  parish  of  Binsted,  is  about  two 
miles  in  extent  from  north  to  south,  and  near  as  much  from 
east  to  west ;  and  contains  within  it  many  woodlands  and  lawns, 
and  the  great  lodge  where  the  grantees  reside  ;  and  a  smaller 
lodge,  called  Goose-green ;  and  is  abutted  on  by  the  parishes 
of  Kingsley,  Frinsham,  Farnham,  and  Bentley ;  all  of  which  have 
right  of  common. 

One  thing  is  remarkable  ;  that,  though  The  Holt  has  been 
of  old  well  stocked  with  fallow-deer,  unrestrained  by  any  pales 
or  fences  more  than  a  common  hedge,  yet  they  were  never  seen 
within  the  limits  of  Wolmer ;  nor  were  the  red  deer  of  Wolmer 
ever  known  to  haunt  the  thickets  or  glades  of  The  Holt. 

At  present  the  deer  of  The  Holt  are  much  thinned  and  reduced 
by  the  night-hunters,  who  perpetually  harass  them  in  spite  of 
the  efforts  of  numerous  keepers,  and  the  severe  penalties  that 
have  been  put  in  force  against  them  as  often  as  they  have  been 
detected,  and  rendered  liable  to  the  lash  of  the  law.  Neither 
fines  nor  imprisonments  can  deter  them :  so  impossible  is  it  to 
extinguish  the  spirit  of  sporting,  which  seems  to  be  inherent 
in  human  nature. 

General  Horve  turned  out  some  German  wild  boars  and  sows 
in  his  forests,  to  the  great  terror  of  the  neighbourhood  ;  and, 
at  one  time,  a  wild  bull  or  buffalo :  but  the  country  rose  upon 
them  and  destroyed  them. 

A  very  large  fall  of  timber,  consisting  of  about  one  thousand 
oaks,  has  been  cut  this  spring  (viz.  1784)  in  The  Holt  forest ; 
one  fifth  of  which,  it  is  said,  belongs  to  the  grantee,  Lord  StaweL 
He  lays  claim  also  to  the  lop  and  top  :  but  the  poor  of  the 
parishes  of  Binsted  and  Frinsham,  Bentley  and  Kingsley,  assert 
that  it  belongs  to  them ;  and,  assembling  in  a  riotous  manner, 
have  actually  taken  it  all  away.  One  man,  who  keeps  a  team, 
has  carried  home,  for  his  share,  forty  stacks  of  wood.  Forty- 

1  [Alice  Holt  lies  upon  gault,  Wolmer  on  lower  greensand.] 


OF  SELBORNE  21 

five  of  these  people  his  lordship  has  served  with  actions.  These 
trees,  which  were  very  sound,  and  in  high  perfection,  were 
winter-cut,  viz.  in  February  and  March,  before  the  bark  would 
run.  In  old  times  The  Holt  was  estimated  to  be  eighteen  miles, 
computed  measure,  from  water-carriage,  vis.  from  the  town  of 
Chertsey,  on  the  Thames ;  but  now  it  is  not  half  that  distance, 
since  the  Wey  is  made  navigable  up  to  the  town  of  Godalming  in 
the  county  of  Surrey. 


LETTER  X.1 

TO  THE  SAME. 

August  4,  1767. 

IT  has  been  my  misfortune  never  to  have  had  any  neighbours 
whose  studies  have  led  them  towards  the  pursuit  of  natural 
knowledge  :  so  that,  for  want  of  a  companion  to  quicken  my 
industry  and  sharpen  my  attention,  I  have  made  but  slender 
progress  in  a  kind  of  information  to  which  I  have  been  attached 
from  my  childhood. 

As  to  swallows  (hirundines  rustics)  being  found  in  a  torpid  state 
during  the  winter  in  the  isle  of  Wight,  or  any  part  of  this  country, 
I  never  heard  any  such  account  worth  attending  to.  But  a 
clergyman,  of  an  inquisitive  turn,  assures  me,  that,  when  he  was 
a  great  boy,  some  workmen,  in  pulling  down  the  battlements  of 
a  church  tower  early  in  the  spring,  found  two  or  three  swifts 
(hirundines  apodes)'2  among  the  rubbish,  which  were,  at  first 
appearance,  dead ;  but,  on  being  carried  toward  the  fire,  revived. 

1  [The  original  of  this  letter,  the  first  ever  written  to  Pennant  by  Gilbert  White, 
commences  with  the  following    passage,    omitted  in  the  copy  as  sent  to  the 
printer  : — 

"  Nothing  but  the  obliging  notice  which  you  were  so  kind  as  to  take  of  my 
trifling  observations  in  the  natural  way  when  I  was  in  town  in  the  spring,  and 
your  repeated  mention  of  me  in  some  late  letters  to  my  brother,  could  have 
emboldened  me  to  enter  into  a  correspondence  with  you,  in  which,  though  my 
vanity  cannot  suggest  to  me  that  I  shall  send  any  information  worthy  your 
attention,  yet  the  communication  of  my  thoughts  to  a  gentleman  so  distinguished 
for  these  kinds  of  studies  will  unavoidably  be  attended  with  satisfaction  and 
improvement  on  my  side."  At  this  time  so  little  was  he  acquainted  with  Pennant, 

that  he  did  not  know  his  Christian  name,  and  the  letter  is  addressed  "To 

Pennant,  Esq.,  at  Downing,  in  Flintshire,  North  Wales. "—Bell. ] 

2  [It  has  been  suggested  that  these  supposed  swifts  were  really  bats,  which  is 
not  impossible.     No  swift  has  ever  been  known  to  pass  the  winter  in  this  country.] 


22  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

He  told  me  that,  out  of  his  great  care  to  preserve  them,  he  put 
them  in  a  paper-bag,  and  hung  them  by  the  kitchen  fire,  where 
they  were  suffocated. 

Another  intelligent  person  has  informed  me  that,  while  he 
was  a  schoolboy  at  Brighthelmstone,  in  Sussex,  a  great  fragment 
of  the  chalk-cliff  fell  down  one  stormy  winter  on  the  beach  ;  and 
that  many  people  found  swallows  among  the  rubbish  :  but,  on  my 
questioning  him  whether  he  saw  any  of  those  birds  himself;  to 
my  110  small  disappointment,  he  answered  me  in  the  negative ; 
but  that  others  assured  him  they  did. 

Young  broods  of  swallows  began  to  appear  this  year  on  July 
the  llth,  and  young  martins  (hirundines  urbicce)  were  then  fledged 
in  their  nests.  Both  species  will  breed  again  once.  For  I  see 
by  my  fauna  of  last  year,  that  young  broods  came  forth  so  late 
as  September  the  eighteenth.  Are  not  these  late  hatchings  more 
in  favour  of  hiding  than  migration  ?  Nay,  some  young  martins 
remained  in  their  nests  last  year  so  late  as  September  the  twenty- 
ninth;  and  yet  they  totally  disappeared  with  us  by  the  fifth 
of  October. 

How  strange  is  it  that  the  swift,  which  seems  to  live  exactly 
the  same  life  with  the  swallow  and  house-martin,  should  leave 
us  before  the  middle  of  August  invariably !  while  the  latter  stay 
often  till  the  middle  of  October ;  and  once  I  saw  numbers  of 
house-martins  on  the  seventh  of  November.1  The  martins  and 
red-wing  fieldfares  were  flying  in  sight  together ;  an  uncommon 
assemblage  of  summer  and  winter-birds  ! 

A  little  yellow  bird  (it  is  either  a  species  of  the  alauda  trivialis, 
or  rather  perhaps  of  the  motacilla  trochilus)  still  continues  to  make 
a  sibilous  shivering  noise  in  the  tops  of  tall  woods.2  The  stoparola 
of  Ray  (for  which  we  have  as  yet  no  name  in  these  parts)  is 
called,  in  your  Zoology,  the  fly-catcher.  There  is  one  circumstance 
characteristic  of  this  bird,  which  seems  to  have  escaped  observa- 
tion, and  that  is,  that  it  takes  it's  stand  on  the  top  of  some  stake 
or  post,  from  whence  it  springs  forth  on  it's  prey,  catching  a  fly 

1  [Later  instances  are  recorded  :  White  mentions  one  in  Letter  XI.  to  Pennant.] 

2  [See  below  (Letters  XVI.  and  XIX.  to  Pennant).     The  "little  yellow  bird" 
was  undoubtedly  the  wood-wren  (Phylloscopus  sibilatrix,  Bechst.).     In  this  sen- 
tence the  word  species  seems  to  be  loosely  used:   in  its  technical  sense  it  is 
rare  in  White's  writings.      The  alauda  trivialis  was  (and  is)  the  tree-pipit ;  the 
motacilla  trochilus  was  the  willow-wren  (Phylloscopus  trochilus,   L.).      All  that 
White  meant  to  say  was  that  the  little  yellow  bird  might  be  closely  related  to 
either  of  these  ;  he  had  probably  as  yet  not  seen  it  clearly,  or  he  would  not  have 
compared  it  to  the  tree-pipit.] 


OF  SELBORNE  23 

in  the  air,  and  hardly  ever  touching  the  ground,  but  returning 
still  to  the  same  stand  for  many  times  together. 

I  perceive  there  are  more  than  one  species  of  the  motacilla 
trochilus :  Mr.  Derkam  supposes,  in  Ray's  Philos.  Letters,  that  he 
has  discovered  three.  In  these  there  is  again  an  instance  of  some 
very  common  birds  that  have  as  yet  no  English  name. 

Mr.  Stillingjleet  makes  a  question  whether  the  black-cap  (mota- 
cilla atricapilld)  be  a  bird  of  passage  or  not :  I  think  there  is 
no  doubt  of  it :  for,  in  April,  in  the  first  fine  weather,  they  come 
trooping,  all  at  once,  into  these  parts,  but  are  never  seen  in 
the  winter.  They  are  delicate  songsters. 

Numbers  of  snipes  breed  every  summer  in  some  moory  ground 
on  the  verge  of  this  parish.  It  is  very  amusing  to  see  the  cock 
bird  on  wing  at  that  time,  and  to  hear  his  piping  and  humming 
notes.1 

I  have  had  no  opportunity  yet  of  procuring  any  of  those  mice 
which  I  mentioned  to  you  in  town.  The  person  that  brought 
me  the  last  says  they  are  plenty  in  harvest,  at  which  time  I  will 
take  care  to  get  more  ;  and  will  endeavour  to  put  the  matter  out 
of  doubt,  whether  it  be  a  iion-descript  species  or  not.2 

I  suspect  much  there  may  be  two  species  of  water-rats.  Ray 
says,  and  Lijinceus  after  him,  that  the  water-rat  is  web-footed 
behind.  Now  I  have  discovered  a  rat  on  the  banks  of  our  little 
stream  that  is  not  web-footed,  and  yet  is  an  excellent  swimmer 
and  diver :  it  answers  exactly  to  the  mus  amphibius  of  Linnaeus 
(See  Syst.  Nat.),  which  he  says  " natat  in  fossis  fy  urinaiur".*  I 
should  be  glad  to  procure  one  " plantis  palmatis  ".  Linnceus  seems 
to  be  in  a  puzzle  about  his  mus  amphibius,  and  to  doubt  whether 
it  differs  from  his  mus  terrestris ;  which  if  it  be,  as  he  allows, 
the  "mus  agrestis  capite  grandi  brachyuros"  of  Ray,  is  widely 
different  from  the  water-rat,  both  in  size,  make,  and  manner  of 
life. 

1  [See  Letters  XVI.  and  XXXIX.  to  Pennant.] 

2  [This  is  the  first  mention  of  the  harvest-mouse  (Mus  minutus,  Pall.).    Pennant 
inserted  the  species  from  White's  description  in  the  Appendix  to  his  British  Zoology, 
8vo  ed.,  1768.      The  harvest-mouse  has  been  known  to  weave  its  nest  from  the 
panicles  and  leaves  of  the  common  reed.     Bingley  observed  that,  when  kept  in 
a  cage,  it  hid  away  grains  of  maize,  taking  care  to  bite  out  the  embryo,  as  the 
harvesting  ants  also  do.      Although  well  supplied  with  food,   it  devoured  most 
of  the  grains  in  the  following  November.     See  also  Letters  XII.,  XIII.,  XV.  to 
Pennant.] 

3  [The  water-vole  (Arvicola  amphibia,  L.).     Linnaeus  followed  Willughby  and 
Ray  in  saying  (erroneously)  that  the  hind  feet  are  webbed.     The  mus  terrestris 
of  Linnaeus  is  the  common  field-vole  (Arvicola  agrestis,  L.).] 


24  THE  NATURAL  HISTOEY 

As  to  the  falco,1  which  I  mentioned  in  town,  I  shall  take  the 
liberty  to  send  it  down  to  you  into  Wales ;  presuming  on  your 
candour,  that  you  will  excuse  me  if  it  should  appear  as  familiar 
to  you  as  it  is  strange  to  me.  Though  mutilated  "  qualem  dices 
.  .  .  antehac  fuisse,  tales  cum  sint  reliquiae  !  " 

It  haunted  a  marshy  piece  of  ground  in  quest  of  wild-ducks 
and  snipes  :  but,  when  it  was  shot,  had  just  knocked  down  a 
rook,  which  it  was  tearing  in  pieces.  I  cannot  make  it  answer 
to  any  of  our  English  hawks  ;  neither  could  I  find  any  like  it 
at  the  curious  exhibition  of  stuffed  birds  in  Spring-Gardens.  I 
found  it  nailed  up  at  the  end  of  a  barn,  which  is  the  country- 
man's museum. 

The  parish  I  live  in  is  a  very  abrupt,  uneven  country,  full  of 
hills  and  woods,  and  therefore  full  of  birds. 


LETTER  XL 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  September  9,  1767. 

IT  will  not  be  without  impatience  that  I  shall  wait  for  your 
thoughts  with  regard  to  the  falco ;  as  to  it's  weight,  breadth, 
&c.  I  wish  I  had  set  them  down  at  the  time  :  but,  to  the  best 
of  my  remembrance,  it  weighed  two  pounds  and  eight  ounces, 
and  measured,  from  wing  to  wing,  thirty -eight  inches.  It's  cere 
and  feet  were  yellow,  and  the  circle  of  it's  eyelids  a  bright  yellow. 
As  it  had  been  killed  some  days,  and  the  eyes  were  sunk,  I  could 
make  no  good  observation  on  the  colour  of  the  pupils  and  the 
irides. 

The  most  unusual  birds  I  ever  observed  in  these  parts  were  a 
pair  of  hoopoes  (upupa),  which  came  several  years  ago  in  the 
summer,  and  frequented  an  ornamented  piece  of  ground,  which 
joins  to  my  garden,  for  some  weeks.  They  used  to  march  about 
in  a  stately  manner,  feeding  in  the  walks,  many  times  in  the  day  ; 
and  seemed  disposed  to  breed  in  my  outlet ; 2  but  were  frighted 
and  persecuted  by  idle  boys,  who  would  never  let  them  be  at 
rest. 

1  [See  Letter  XI.  and  the  beginning  of  Letter  XII.  It  is  curious  that  White 
should  leave  us  in  the  dark  about  this  falcon.  It  seems  that  Pennant  identified  it 
as  a  variety  of  the  peregrine.  ] 

2 [By  outlet  White  denotes  the  pleasure-grounds  about  a  house.] 


OF  SELBORNE  25 

Three  gross-beaks  (loxia  coccothraustes)  appeared  some  years 
ago  in  ray  fields,  in  the  winter ;  one  of  which  I  shot :  since  that, 
now  and  then  one  is  occasionally  seen  in  the  same  dead  season. 

A  cross-bill  (loxia  curvirostra)  was  killed  last  year  in  this 
neighbourhood. 

Our  streams,  which  are  small,  and  rise  only  at  the  end  of  the 
village,  yield  nothing  but  the  bull's  head  or  millers  thumb  (gobius 
fluviatilis  capitatus),1  the  trout  (trutta  fluviatilis},2  the  eel  (anguilla), 
the  lampern  (lampcetra  parva 3  et  fluviatilis*  and  the  stickle-back 
(pisciculus  aculeatus}.^ 

We  are  twenty  miles  from  the  sea,  and  almost  as  many  from  a 

freat  river,  and  therefore  see  but  little  of  sea-birds.  As  to  wild 
3wls,  we  have  a  few  teams  of  ducks  bred  in  the  moors  where  the 
snipes  breed  ;  and  multitudes  of  widgeons  and  teals  in  hard  weather 
frequent  our  lakes  in  the  forest. 

Having  some  acquaintance  with  a  tame  brown  owl,  I  find  that 
it  casts  up  the  fur  of  mice,  and  the  feathers  of  birds  in  pellets, 
after  the  manner  of  hawks  :  when  full,  like  a  dog,  it  hides  what 
it  cannot  eat. 

The  young  of  the  barn-owl  are  not  easily  raised,  as  they  want 
a  constant  supply  of  fresh  mice  :  whereas  the  young  of  the  brown 
owl  will  eat  indiscriminately  all  that  is  brought;  snails,  rats, 
kittens,  puppies,  magpies,  and  any  kind  of  carrion  or  offal. 

The  house-martins  have  eggs  still,  and  squab-young.  The  last 
swift  I  observed  was  about  the  twenty-first  of  August ;  it  was  a 
straggler. 

Red-starts,  fly -catchers,  white-throats,  and  reguli  non  cristati,6  still 
appear ;  but  I  have  seen  no  black-caps  lately. 

I  forgot  to  mention  that  I  once  saw,  in  Christ  Church  college 
quadrangle  in  Oxford,  on  a  very  sunny  warm  morning,  a  house 
martin  flying  about,  and  settling  on  the  parapets,  so  late  as  the 
twentieth  of  November. 

At  present  I  know  only  two  species  of  bats,  the  common 
vespertilio  murinus  and  the  vespertilio  auritusJ 

1  [  Cottus  gobio,  L.  ]  2  [  Salmofario,  L.  ] 

*[Petromyzonbranchialis,lj.}  «  [P.  faviatilis,  L.] 

5  [  Of  the  five  or  six  species  of  stickleback  described  as  British  one  only  was 
known  to  Bell  as  inhabiting  the  stream  at  Selborne,  viz.,  the  three-spined  stickle- 
back (Gastrosteus  aculeatus,  L.).] 

6  [The  three  species  of  willow- wren. ] 

7  [The  Vespertilio  murinus  is  a  common  bat  on  the  continent,  but  very  rare  in 
Britain.  White  meant  no  doubt  the  Pipistrelle,  as  former  editors  have  seen ;  Pennant 
led  him  astray  on  this  point.      Plecotus  auritus  is  the  long-eared  bat.      White 


26  THE  NATUEAL  HISTORY 

I  was  much  entertained  last  summer  with  a  tame  bat,  which 
would  take  flies  out  of  a  person's  hand.  If  you  gave  it  any  thing 
to  eat,  it  brought  it's  wings  round  before  the  mouth,  hovering 
and  hiding  it's  head  in  the  manner  of  birds  of  prey  when  they 
feed.  The  adroitness  it  shewed  in  shearing  off  the  wings  of  the 
flies,  which  were  always  rejected,  was  worthy  of  observation, 
and  pleased  me  much.  Insects  seemed  to  be  most  acceptable, 
though  it  did  not  refuse  raw  flesh  when  offered :  so  that  the 
notion  that  bats  go  down  chimnies  and  gnaw  men's  bacon,  seems 
no  improbable  story.  While  I  amused  myself  with  this  wonderful 
quadruped,  I  saw  it  several  times  confute  the  vulgar  opinion,  that 
bats  when  down  on  a  flat  surface  cannot  get  on  the  wing  again, 
by  rising  with  great  ease  from  the  floor.  It  ran,  I  observed,  with 
more  dispatch  than  I  was  aware  of;  but  in  a  most  ridiculous  and 
grotesque  manner. 

Bats  drink  on  the  wing,  like  swallows,  by  sipping  the  surface, 
as  they  play  over  pools  and  streams.  They  love  to  frequent 
waters,  not  only  for  the  sake  of  drinking,  but  on  account  of 
insects,  which  are  found  over  them  in  the  greatest  plenty.  As  I 
was  going,  some  years  ago,  pretty  late,  in  a  boat  from  Richmond 
to  Sunbury,  on  a  warm  summer's  evening,  I  think  I  saw  myriads 
of  bats  between  the  two  places  :  the  air  swarmed  with  them  all 
along  the  Thames,  so  that  hundreds  were  in  sight  at  a  time. 

I  am,  &c. 


LETTER  XII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

November  4,  1767. 

SIR, 

IT  gave  me  no  small  satisfaction  to  hear  that  thefalco1  turned 
out  an  uncommon  one.  I  must  confess  I  should  have  been  better 
pleased  to  have  heard  that  I  had  sent  you  a  bird  that  you  had 
never  seen  before  ;  but  that,  I  find,  would  be  a  difficult  task. 

himself  added  the  Noctule  (Vesperugo  noctula,  Schreb.)  to  the  list  of  Selborne 
(and  British)  bats.  It  had  been  described,  with  a  figure  of  its  head,  by  Daubenton 
in  1759,  while  Buffon  had  included  it  in  his  Histoire  Naturelle.  Fifteen  British  bats 
are  now  known.] 

1  This  hawk  proved  to  be  the  falco  peregrinus ;  a  variety.     [See  Letters  X.  and 
XI.  to  Pennant.] 


OF  SELBORNE  27 

I  have  procured  some  of  the  mice  mentioned  in  my  former 
letters,  a  young  one  and  a  female  with  young,  both  of  which  I 
have  preserved  in  brandy.  From  the  colour,  shape,  size,  and 
manner  of  nesting,  I  make  no  doubt  but  that  the  species  is 
non-descript.  They  are  much  smaller,  and  more  slender,  than  the 
mus  domesticus  medius  of  Ray  ;  and  have  more  of  the  squirrel  or 
dormouse  colour  :  their  belly  is  white  ;  a  straight  line  along  their 
sides  divides  the  shades  of  their  back  and  belly.  They  never 
enter  into  houses  ;  are  carried  into  ricks  and  barns  with  the 
sheaves ;  abound  in  harvest ;  and  build  their  nests  amidst  the 
straws  of  the  corn  above  the  ground,  and  sometimes  in  thistles. 
They  breed  as  many  as  eight  at  a  litter,  in  a  little  round  nest 
composed  of  the  blades  of  grass  or  wheat. 

One  of  these  nests  I  procured  this  autumn,  most  artificially 
platted,  and  composed  of  the  blades  of  wheat ;  perfectly  round, 
and  about  the  size  of  a  cricket-ball ;  with  the  aperture  so  ingeni- 
ously closed,  that  there  was  no  discovering  to  what  part  it 
belonged.  It  was  so  compact  and  well  filled,  that  it  would  roll 
across  the  table  without  being  discomposed,  though  it  contained 
eight  little  mice  that  were  naked  and  blind.  As  this  nest  was 
perfectly  full,  how  could  the  dam  come  at  her  litter  respectively 
so  as  to  administer  a  teat  to  each  ?  perhaps  she  opens  different 
places  for  that  purpose,  adjusting  them  again  when  the  business 
is  over :  but  she  could  not  possibly  be  contained  herself  in  the 
ball  with  her  young,  which  moreover  would  be  daily  increasing 
in  bulk.  This  wonderful  procreant  cradle,  an  elegant  instance 
of  the  efforts  of  instinct,  was  found  in  a  wheat-field  suspended  in 
the  head  of  a  thistle.1 

A  gentleman,  curious  in  birds,  wrote  me  word  that  his  servant 
had  shot  one  last  January,  in  that  severe  weather,  which  he 
believed  would  puzzle  me.  I  called  to  see  it  this  summer,  not 
knowing  what  to  expect :  but,  the  moment  I  took  it  in  hand,  I 
pronounced  it  the  male  garrulus  bohemicus  or  German  silk-tail,2 
from  the  five  peculiar  crimson  tags  or  points  which  it  carries  at 
the  ends  of  five  of  the  short  remiges.  It  cannot,  I  suppose,  with 
any  propriety,  be  called  an  English  bird :  and  yet  I  see,  by  Rays 
Philosoph.  letters,  that  great  flocks  of  them,  feeding  on  haws, 
appeared  in  this  kingdom  in  the  winter  of  1685. 

The  mention  of  haws  puts  me  in  mind  that  there  is  a  total 

1  [See  Letter  X.  to  Pennant,  and  note  thereon.] 

z[Ampelis  garrulus,  L.  Waxwings  were  common  in  1866-67,  and  again  in 
1872-73.] 


28  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

failure  of  that  wild  fruit,  so  conducive  to  the  support  of  many  of 
the  winged  nation.  For  the  same  severe  weather,  late  in  the 
spring,  which  cut  off  all  the  produce  of  the  more  tender  and 
curious  trees,  destroyed  also  that  of  the  more  hardy  and  common. 

Some  birds,  haunting  with  the  missel-thrushes,  and  feeding  on 
the  berries  of  the  yew-tree,  which  answered  to  the  description  of 
the  merula  torquata  or  ring- ouzel,  were  lately  seen  in  this  neighbour- 
hood. I  employed  some  people  to  procure  me  a  specimen,  but 
without  success.  See  Letter  VIII. 

Query — Might  not  Canary  birds  be  naturalized  to  this  climate, 
provided  their  eggs  were  put,  in  the  spring,  into  the  nests  of 
some  of  their  congeners,  as  goldfinches,  greenfinches,  &c.  ?  Be- 
fore winter  perhaps  they  might  be  hardened,  and  able  to  shift 
for  themselves. 

About  ten  years  ago  I  used  to  spend  some  weeks  yearly  at 
Sunbury,  which  is  one  of  those  pleasant  villages  lying  on  the 
Thames,  near  Hampton-court.  In  the  autumn,  I  could  not  help 
being  much  amused  with  those  myriads  of  the  swallow  kind 
which  assemble  in  those  parts.  But  what  struck  me  most  was, 
that,  from  the  time  they  began  to  congregate,  forsaking  the 
chimnies  and  houses,  they  roosted  every  night  in  the  osier-beds 
of  the  aits  of  that  river.  Now  this  resorting  towards  that 
element,  at  that  season  of  the  year,  seems  to  give  some  counten- 
ance to  the  northern  opinion  (strange  as  it  is)  of  their  retiring 
under  water.  A  Swedish  naturalist l  is  so  much  persuaded  of  that 
fact,  that  he  talks,  in  his  calendar  of  Flora,  as  familiarly  of  the 
swallow's  going  under  water  in  the  beginning  of  September,  as  he 
would  of  his  poultry  going  to  roost  a  little  before  sunset.2 

An  observing  gentleman  in  London  writes  me  word  that  he 
saw  an  house-martin,  on  the  twenty-third  of  last  October,  flying  in 
and  out  of  it's  nest  in  the  Borough.  And  I  myself,  on  the  twenty- 
ninth  of  last  October  (as  I  was  travelling  through  Oxford),  saw 
four  or  five  swallows  hovering  round  and  settling  on  the  roof  of 
the  county- hospital. 

Now  is  it  likely  that  these  poor  little  birds  (which  perhaps 
had  not  been  hatched  but  a  few  weeks)  should,  at  that  late 
season  of  the  year,  and  from  so  midland  a  county,  attempt  a 
voyage  to  Goree  or  Senegal,  almost  as  far  as  the  equator  ? 3 

1  \Calendarium  Florce,  A.  M.  Berger,  1756.     A  thesis  published  in  the  Amoeni- 
tates  Academics,  vol.  iv.  (1759).     Translated,  with  the  addition  of  an  English 
Calendar  of  Flora,  by  Stillingfleet  (Misc.   Tracts,  1755).] 

2  [See  Introduction,  p.  xxxii.] 

3  See  Adanson's  Voyage  to  Senegal.     [See  also  Letter  XXXIX.  to  Pennant.] 


OF  SELBORNE  29 

I  acquiesce  entirely  in  your  opinion — that,  though  most  of  the 
swallow  kind  may  migrate,  yet  that  some  do  stay  behind  and 
hide  with  us  during  the  winter. 

As  to  the  short-winged  soft-billed  birds,  which  come  trooping 
in  such  numbers  in  the  spring,  I  am  at  a  loss  even  what  to  sus- 
pect about  them.  I  watched  them  narrowly  this  year,  and  saw 
them  abound  till  about  Michaelmas,  when  they  appeared  no 
longer.  Subsist  they  cannot  openly  among  us,  and  yet  elude  the 
eyes  of  the  inquisitive  :  and,  as  to  their  hiding,  no  man  pretends 
to  have  found  any  of  them  in  a  torpid  state  in  the  winter.  But 
with  regard  to  their  migration,  what  difficulties  attend  that 
supposition!  that  such  feeble  bad  fliers  (who  the  summer  long 
never  flit  but  from  hedge  to  hedge)  should  be  able  to  traverse 
vast  seas  and  continents  in  order  to  enjoy  milder  seasons  amidst 
the  regions  of  Africa  I 


LETTER  XIII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  Jan.  22,  1768. 
SIR, 

As  in  one  of  your  former  letters  you  expressed  the  more  satis- 
faction from  my  correspondence  on  account  of  my  living  in  the 
most  southerly  county ;  so  now  I  may  return  the  compliment, 
and  expect  to  have  my  curiosity  gratified  by  your  living  much 
more  to  the  North. 

For  many  years  past  I  have  observed  that  towards  Christmas 
vast  flocks  of  chaffinches  have  appeared  in  the  fields ;  many 
more,  I  used  to  think,  than  could  be  hatched  in  any  one  neigh- 
bourhood. But,  when  I  came  to  observe  them  more  narrowly, 
I  was  amazed  to  find  that  they  seemed  to  me  to  be  almost 
all  hens.1  I  communicated  my  suspicions  to  some  intelligent 
neighbours,  who,  after  taking  pains  about  the  matter,  declared 
that  they  also  thought  them  all  mostly  females ;  at  least  fifty  to 
one.  This  extraordinary  occurrence  brought  to  my  mind  the 
remark  of  Linnaeus;  that  "  before  winter  all  their  hen  chaffinches 

1  [See  the  fourth  edition  of  Yarrell's  British.  Birds,  vol.  ii.,  p.  70  f.,  where  the 
question  is  discussed  of  the  separation  of  the  sexes  of  the  chaffinch  in  winter.  This 
separation  is  only  "  partial  and  temporary  "  (H.  Saunders),  but  has  given  the  bird 
its  specific  name  (Fringilla  coelebs).  See  Letter  VIII.  to  Harrington.] 


30  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

"migrate  through  Holland  into  Italy  ".  Now  I  want  to  know,  from 
some  curious  person  in  the  north,  whether  there  are  any  large 
flocks  of  these  finches  with  them  in  the  winter,  and  of  which  sex 
they  mostly  consist  ?  For,  from  such  intelligence,  one  might  be 
able  to  judge  whether  our  female  flocks  migrate  from  the  other 
end  of  the  island,  or  whether  they  come  over  to  us  from  the 
continent. 

We  have,  in  the  winter,  vast  flocks  of  the  common  linnets  ; 
more,  I  think,  than  can  be  bred  in  any  one  district.  These,  I 
observe,  when  the  spring  advances,  assemble  on  some  tree  in  the 
sunshine,  and  join  all  in  a  gentle  sort  of  chirping,  as  if  they  were 
about  to  break  up  their  winter  quarters  and  betake  themselves  to 
their  proper  summer  homes.  It  is  well  known,  at  least,  that  the 
swallows  and  the  fieldfares  do  congregate  with  a  gentle  twittering 
before  they  make  their  respective  departure. 

You  may  depend  on  it  that  the  bunting,  emberiza  miliaria,  does 
not  leave  this  country  in  the  winter.  In  January  1767,  I  saw 
several  dozen  of  them,  in  the  midst  of  a  severe  frost,  among  the 
bushes  on  the  downs  near  Andover :  in  our  woodland  enclosed 
district  it  is  a  rare  bird.1 

Wagtails,  both  white  and  yellow,  are  with  us  all  the  winter.2 
Quails  crowd  to  our  southern  coast,  and  are  often  killed  in  numbers 
by  people  that  go  on  purpose. 

Mr.  Stillingjleet,  in  his  Tracts,  says  that  "if  the  wheatear 
"  (cenanthe)  does  not  quit  England,  it  certainly  shifts  places ;  for 
"  about  harvest  they  are  not  to  be  found,  where  there  was  before 
"great  plenty  of  them".  This  well  accounts  for  the  vast 
quantities  that  are  caught  about  that  time  on  the  south  downs 
near  Lewes,  where  they  are  esteemed  a  delicacy.  There  have 
been  shepherds,  I  have  been  credibly  informed,  that  have  made 
many  pounds  in  a  season  by  catching  them  in  traps.  And  though 

1  [The  common  bunting  is  almost  exclusively  a  bird  of  the  corn  lands,  and  there- 
fore rare  at  Selborne.     Bell  notes  on  this  passage  that  the  cirl  bunting  (Emberiza 
cirlus,  L. )  is  now  resident  in  the  district.     Whether  it  was  to  be  found  there  in 
White's  time  we  cannot  guess ;  it  was  not  known  as  a  British  bird  till  the  year 
1800.     White,  in  spite  of  his  occasional  deafness  (see  Letter  XXII.  to  Barrington), 
seems  to  have  been  quicker  with  his  ears  than  with  his  eyes  in  observing  birds,  but 
it  is  quite  possible  that  he  failed  to  distinguish  the  song  of  the  cirl  bunting  from 
that  of  the  yellow  hammer.     Even  with  our  knowledge  of  the  voices  and  appearance 
of  the  two  species,  it  is  not  always  easy  to  distinguish  them  at  a  glance.] 

2  [By  "yellow  wagtail"  White  must  here  mean  the  grey  wagtail  (Motacilla 
melanope,  Pall. ),  as  the  yellow  wagtail  (M.  raii,  Bonap. )  never  winters  in  England. 
The  so-called  grey  species  shows  much  sulphur  yellow  on  its  under  parts.     But 
White  has  little  to  tell  us  of  the  wagtails,  and  evidently  had  not  bent  his  mind  to 
observe  them  closely.] 


OF  SELBORNE  31 

such  multitudes  are  taken,  I  never  saw  (and  I  am  well  acquainted 
with  those  parts)  above  two  or  three  at  a  time  :  for  they  are  never 
gregarious.  They  may  perhaps  migrate  in  general ;  and,  for 
that  purpose,  draw  towards  the  coast  of  Sussex  in  autumn :  but 
that  they  do  not  all  withdraw  I  am  sure  ;  because  I  see  a  few 
stragglers  in  many  counties,  at  all  times  of  the  year,  especially 
about  warrens  and  stone  quarries.1 

I  have  no  acquaintance,  at  present,  among  the  gentlemen  of 
the  navy :  but  have  written  to  a  friend,  who  was  a  sea-chaplain 
in  the  late  war,  desiring  him  to  look  into  his  minutes,  with  respect 
to  birds  that  settled  on  their  rigging  during  their  voyage  up  or 
down  the  channel.  What  Hasselquist  says  on  that  subject  is  re- 
markable :  there  were  little  short-winged  birds  frequently  coming 
on  board  his  ship  all  the  way  from  our  channel  quite  up  to  the 
Levant,  especially  before  squally  weather. 

What  you  suggest,  with  regard  to  Spain,  is  highly  probable. 
The  winters  of  Andalusia  are  so  mild,  that,  in  all  likelihood,  the 
soft-billed  birds  that  leave  us  at  that  season  may  find  insects 
sufficient  to  support  them  there. 

Some  young  man,  possessed  of  fortune,  health,  and  leisure, 
should  make  an  autumnal  voyage  into  that  kingdom  ;  and  should 
spend  a  year  there,  investigating  the  natural  history  of  that  vast 
country.  Mr.  Willughby  2  passed  through  that  kingdom  on  such 
an  errand ;  but  he  seems  to  have  skirted  along  in  a  superficial 
manner  and  an  ill  humour,  being  much  disgusted  at  the  rude 
dissolute  manners  of  the  people. 

I  have  no  friend  left  now  at  Sunbury  to  apply  to  about  the 
swallows  roosting  on  the  aits  of  the  Thames :  nor  can  I  hear  any 
more  about  those  birds  which  I  suspected  were  merulce  torquatce. 

As  to  the  small  mice,  I  have  farther  to  remark,  that  though 
they  hang  their  nests  for  breeding  up  amidst  the  straws  of  the 
standing  corn,  above  the  ground ;  yet  I  find  that,  in  the  winter, 
they  burrow  deep  in  the  earth,  and  make  warm  beds  of  grass  : 
but  their  grand  rendezvous  seems  to  be  in  corn-ricks,  into  which 
they  are  carried  at  harvest.  A  neighbour  housed  an  oat-rick 
lately,  under  the  thatch  of  which  were  assembled  near  an  hundred, 
most  of  which  were  taken  ;  and  some  I  saw.  I  measured  them  ; 

1  [Though  the  wheatear  is  rarely  seen  in  winter,  there  seems  to  be  no  doubt  that 
White  was  not  here  in  error.     See  Yarrell's  British  Birds  (ed.  Newton),  vol.  i.,  p. 
350.     Further  particulars  respecting  the  wheatear  are  given  in  Letter  XVII.  to 
Harrington.] 

2  See  Ra^s  Travels,  p.  466. 


32  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

and  found  that,  from  nose  to  tail,  they  were  just  two  inches  and 
a  quarter,  and  their  tails  just  two  inches  long.  Two  of  them,  in 
a  scale,  weighed  down  just  one  copper  halfpenny,  which  is  about 
the  third  of  an  ounce  avoirdupois  :  so  that  I  suppose  they  are  the 
smallest  quadrupeds  in  this  island.  A  full-grown  mus  medius 
domesticus  weighs,  I  find,  one  ounce  lumping  weight,  which  is 
more  than  six  times  as  much  as  the  mouse  above ;  and  measures 
from  nose  to  rump  four  inches  and  a  quarter,  and  the  same  in  it's 
tail.1  We  have  had  a  very  severe  frost  and  deep  snow  this  month. 
My  thermometer  was  one  day  fourteen  degrees  and  an  half 
below  the  freezing-point,  within  doors.  The  tender  evergreens 
were  injured  pretty  much.  It  was  very  providential  that  the  air 
was  still,  and  the  ground  well  covered  with  snow,  else  vegetation 
in  general  must  have  suffered  prodigiously.  There  is  reason  to 
believe  that  some  days  were  more  severe  than  any  since  the  year 
1739-40. 

I  am,  &c.,  &c. 


LETTER  XIV. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  March  12,  1768. 
DEAR  SIR, 

IF  some  curious  gentleman  would  procure  the  head  of  a  fallow- 
deer,  and  have  it  dissected,  he  would  find  it  furnished  with  two 
spiracula,  or  breathing-places,  besides  the  nostrils  ;  probably  ana- 
logous to  ihepuncta  lachrymalia  in  the  human  head.2  When  deer 

1  [See  preceding  letter.     "  It  is  perhaps  not  generally  known  that  the  tail  of  the 
harvest  mouse  is  prehensile,  and  is  in  consequence  of  great  service  to  the  little 
animal  when  descending  the  wheat  stalks,  amongst  which  its  nest  is  usually  sus- 
pended.    In  The  Zoologist  for  1843,  p.  289,  will  be  found  a  woodcut  in  illustration 
of  this  fact  as  observed  by  the  Rev.  Pemberton  Bartlett." — Harting.~\ 

2  [Hunter  and  Owen  have  shown  by  dissection  that  these  cavities  are  closed 
internally,  and  do  not  communicate  with  the  air  passages.     E.  T.  Bennett,  in  his 
edition  of  White's  Selborne,  notes  that  the  Indian  antelopes  kept  in  the  Zoological 
Society's  gardens  were  fond  of  everting  the  sacs,  and  rubbing  them  against  an 
observer's  hand.      ' '  After  the  finger  has  been  subjected  for  some  time  to  this 
rubbing,  it  will  be  found  to  have  acquired  a  heavy  odour,  of  a  salt  and  peculiar 
character"  (Bennett}.      Other  observers  describe  the  odour  as  musky.     Objects 
rubbed  with  the  waxy  secretion  of  the  glands  attract  the  attention  of  the  antelopes, 
which  sniff  at  and  lick  them.     The  glands  are  usually  larger  in  the  male  than  in 
the  female.     They  occur,  not  only  in  many  deer,  but  also  in  most  species  of  sheep 
and  goat.     The  most  probable  explanation  of  their  function  is  that  the  secretion  is 
alluring  to  the  females.] 


OF  SELBORNE  33 

are  thirsty  they  plunge  their  noses,  like  some  horses,  very  deep 
under  water,  while  in  the  act  of  drinking,  and  continue  them  in 
that  situation  for  a  considerable  time  :  but,  to  obviate  any 
inconveniency,  they  can  open  two  vents,  one  at  the  inner  corner 
of  each  eye,  having  a  communication  with  the  nose.  Here  seems 
to  be  an  extraordinary  provision  of  nature  worthy  our  attention  ; 
and  which  has  not,  that  I  know  of,  been  noticed  by  any  naturalist. 
For  it  looks  as  if  these  creatures  would  not  be  suffocated,  though 
both  their  mouths  and  nostrils  were  stopped.  This  curious  for- 
mation of  the  head  may  be  of  singular  service  to  beasts  of  chase, 
by  affording  them  free  respiration  :  and  no  doubt  these  additional 
nostrils  are  thrown  open  when  they  are  hard  run.1  Mr.  Ray 
observed  that,  at  Malta,  the  owners  slit  up  the  nostrils  of  such 
asses  as  were  hard  worked  :  for  they,  being  naturally  strait  or 
small,  did  not  admit  air  sufficient  to  serve  them  when  they 
travelled,  or  laboured,  in  that  hot  climate.  And  we  know  that 
grooms,  and  gentlemen  of  the  turf,  think  large  nostrils  necessary, 
and  a  perfection,  in  hunters  and  running  horses. 

Oppian,  the   Greek  poet,  by  the  following  line,  seems  to  have 
had  some  notion  that  stags  have  four  spiracula  : 


'pives,  iritrupes  irvonr}ffi  5tauA.oi." 
"  Quadrifidae  nares,  quadruplices  ad  respirationem  canales." 

Opp.,  Cyn.,  Lib.  ii.,  L  181. 

Writers,  copying  from  one  another,  make  Aristotle  say  that 
goats  breathe  at  their  ears  ;  whereas  he  asserts  just  the  contrary  : 
—  "  AA.K/AOI<OV  yct/o  OVK  aXrjOrj  Aeyei,  <£a^tevos  (tva.Trvf.iv  ras  aiyas  Kara 
"TO.  ami".  "  Alcmceon  does  not  advance  what  is  true,  when  he 
"avers  that  goats  breathe  through  their  ears."  —  History  of 
Animals,  Book  I.,  chap.  xi. 

1  In  answer  to  this  account,  Mr.  Pennant  sent  me  the  following  curious  and 
pertinent  reply.  "  I  was  much  surprised  to  find  in  the  antelope  something  ana- 
logous to  what  you  mention  as  so  remarkable  in  deer.  This  animal  also  has  a 
"  long  slit  beneath  each  eye,  which  can  be  opened  and  shut  at  pleasure.  On  holding 
"  an  orange  to  one,  the  creature  made  as  much  use  of  those  orifices  as  of  his  nostrils, 
"applying  them  to  the  fruit,  and  seeming  to  smell  it  through  them," 


34  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 


LETTER  XV. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  March  30,  1768. 
DEAR  SIR, 

SOME  intelligent  country  people  have  a  notion  that  we  have,  in 
these  parts,  a  species  of  the  genus  mustelinum,  besides  the  weasel, 
stoat,  ferret,  and  polecat ;  a  little  reddish  beast,  not  much 
bigger  than  a  field  mouse,  but  much  longer,  which  they  call  a 
cane.1  This  piece  of  intelligence  can  be  little  depended  on  ;  but 
farther  inquiry  may  be  made. 

A  gentleman  in  this  neighbourhood  had  two  milkwhite  rooks 
in  one  nest.  A  booby  of  a  carter,  finding  them  before  they  were 
able  to  fly,  threw  them  down  and  destroyed  them,  to  the  regret 
of  the  owner,  who  would  have  been  glad  to  have  preserved  such 
a  curiosity  in  his  rookery.  I  saw  the  birds  myself  nailed  against 
the  end  of  a  barn,  and  was  surprised  to  find  that  their  bills, 
legs,  feet,  and  claws  were  milkwhite. 

A  shepherd  saw,  as  he  thought,  some  white  larks  on  a  down 
above  my  house  this  winter :  were  not  these  the  emberiza  nivalis, 
the  snow-flake  of  the  Brit.  Zool.  ?  No  doubt  they  were. 

A  few  years  ago  I  saw  a  cock  bullfinch  in  a  cage,  which  had 
been  caught  in  the  fields  after  it  was  come  to  it's  full  colours. 
In  about  a  year  it  began  to  look  dingy ;  and,  blackening  every 
succeeding  year,  it  became  coal-black  at  the  end  of  four.  It's 
chief  food  was  hempseed.  Such  influence  has  food  on  the  colour 
of  animals !  The  pied  and  mottled  colours  of  domesticated 
animals  are  supposed  to  be  owing  to  high,  various,  and  unusual 
food.2 

1  had  remarked,  for  years,  that  the  root  of  the  cuckoo-pint 
(arum)  was  frequently  scratched  out  of  the  dry  banks  of  hedges, 
and  eaten  in  severe  snowy  weather.     After  observing,  with  some 
exactness,  myself,  and  getting  others  to  do  the  same,  we  found 

1[This  is  probably  nothing  but  a  female  weasel,  the  female  in  this  species  being 
decidedly  smaller  than  the  male.] 

2  [Many  like  cases  of  change  of  colour  induced  by  change  of  food  are  now  re- 
corded.    Larks  have  been  observed  to  turn  black  when  fed  on  hemp  seed  ;  canaries 
to  redden  on  cayenne  pepper  ;  green  parrots  to  develop  red  and  yellow  feathers 
when  fed  on  fish  or  pounded  maize.     A  shipwrecked  crew  subsisted  for  a  long 
time  on  penguins'   eggs,   and  it  was  remarked   that  their  hair  and  complexion 
turned  lighter,  black  tiair  becoming  brown  or  red.     See  Distant  on  "Assimilative 
Coloration,"  Zoologist,  4th  ser.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  400  (1898).] 


OF  SELBORNE  35 

it  was  the  thrush  kind  that  searched  it  out.  The  root  of  the  arum 
is  remarkably  warm  and  pungent. 

Our  flocks  of  female  chaffinches  have  not  yet  forsaken  us. 
The  blackbirds  and  thrushes  are  very  much  thinned  down  by 
that  fierce  weather  in  January. 

In  the  middle  of  February  I  discovered,  in  my  tall  hedges,  a 
little  bird  that  raised  my  curiosity :  it  was  of  that  yellow-green 
colour  that  belongs  to  the  salicana  kind,  and,  I  think,  was  soft- 
billed.  It  was  no  panis ;  and  was  too  long  and  too  big  for  the 
golden-crowned  wren,  appearing  most  like  the  largest  willow- 
wren.  It  hung  sometimes  with  it's  back  downwards,  but  never 
continuing  one  moment  in  the  same  place.  I  shot  at  it,  but  it 
was  so  desultory  that  I  missed  my  aim.1 

I  wonder  that  the  stone  curlew,  charadrius  oedicnemus,  should 
be  mentioned  by  the  writers  as  a  rare  bird :  it  abounds  in  all  the 
campaign  parts  of  Hampshire  and  Sussex,  and  breeds,  I  think, 
all  the  summer,  having  young  ones,  I  know,  very  late  in  the 
autumn.  Already  they  begin  clamouring  in  the  evening.  They 
cannot,  I  think,  with  any  propriety,  be  called,  as  they  are  by  Mr. 
Ray,  "circa  aquas  versantes"  ;  for  with  us,  by  day  at  least,  they 
haunt  only  the  most  dry,  open,  upland  fields  and  sheep  walks, 
far  removed  from  water :  what  they  may  do  in  the  night  I 
cannot  say.  Worms  are  their  usual  food,  but  they  also  eat  toads 
and  frogs. 

I  can  show  you  some  good  specimens  of  my  new  mice.  Linnaeus 
perhaps,  would  call  the  species  mus  minimus. 

LETTER  XVI. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  April  18,  1768. 
DEAR  SIR, 

THE  history  of  the  stone  curlew,  charadrius  oedicnemus,  is  as  follows. 
It  lays  it's  eggs,  usually  two,  never  more  than  three,  on  the  bare 
ground,  without  any  nest,  in  the  field ;  so  that  the  countryman, 
in  stirring  his  fallows,  often  destroys  them.  The  young  run 

][This  may  have  been  the  chiffchaff  (Phylloscopus  rufus,  Bechst.),  as  Mr. 
Harting  has  suggested  in  his  edition  ;  this  bird  occasionally  winters  in  England. 
Or  it  may  have  been  a  stray  siskin  (Chrysomitris  spinus^  L. ),  a  bird  more  apt  to  hang 
with  its  back  downwards  than  the  chiffchaff,  and  one  which  White  does  not  seem 
to  have  known  well.  See  note  on  Letter  VIII.  to  Barrington.  By  desultory  White 
means  to  describe  the  restless  and  apparently  capricious  movements  of  the  bird.] 


36  THE  NATURAL  HISTOEY 

immediately  from  the  egg  like  partridges,  &c.  and  are  withdrawn 
to  some  flinty  field  by  the  dam,  where  they  skulk  among  the 
stones,  which  are  their  best  security  ;  for  their  feathers  are  so 
exactly  of  the  colour  of  our  grey  spotted  flints,  that  the  most 
exact  observer,  unless  he  catches  the  eye  of  the  young  bird,  may 
be  eluded.  The  eggs  are  short  and  round ;  of  a  dirty  white, 
spotted  with  dark  bloody  blotches.  Though  I  might  not  be  able, 
just  when  I  pleased,  to  procure  you  a  bird,  yet  I  could  show 
you  them  almost  any  day ;  and  any  evening  you  may  hear  them 
round  the  village,  for  they  make  a  clamour  which  may  be  heard 
a  mile.  Oedicnemus  is  a  most  apt  and  expressive  name  for  them, 
since  their  legs  seem  swoln  like  those  of  a  gouty  man.  After 
harvest  I  have  shot  them  before  the  pointers  in  turnip-fields.1 

1  make  no  doubt  but  there  are  three  species  of  the  willorv- 
ivren :    two   I  know  perfectly ;  but  have  not  been  able  yet  to 
procure  the  third.     No  two  birds  can  differ  more  in  their  notes, 
and  that  constantly,  than  those  two  that  I  am  acquainted  with  ; 
for  the  one  has  a  joyous,  easy,  laughing  note  ;  the  other  a  harsh 
loud  chirp.     The  former  is  every  way  larger,  and  three  quarters 
of  an  inch  longer,  and  weighs  two  drams  and  an  half;  while  the 
latter  weighs  but  two :  so  the  songster  is  one  fifth  heavier  than 
the  chirper.     The  chirper  (being  the  first  summer-bird  of  passage 
that  is  heard,  the  wryneck  sometimes  excepted)  begins  his  two 
notes  in  the  middle  of  March,  and  continues  them  through  the 
spring  and  summer  till   the  end  of  August,  as  appears   by  my 
journals.     The  legs  of  the  larger  of  these  two  are  flesh-coloured  ; 
of  the  less,  black.2 

![This  bird  is  not  a  curlew,  which  it  resembles  only  in  its  cry,  but  is  related  to 
the  bustards  and  plovers.  See  also  Letters  XXL,  XXXIII.  to  Pennant,  LIX.  to 
Barrington,  and  the  Observations  on  Nature.  White's  account  of  the  stone 
curlew  is  one  of  his  best  contributions  to  ornithology  ;  it  was  supplemented,  as  we 
learn  from  Letter  XXL ,  by  the  observations  of  a  friend  in  Sussex.  The  observa- 
tion of  the  protective  colouration  of  the  young  seems  to  be  White's  own.  The  bird 
is  not  common  in  the  Selborne  district,  which  is  not  well  suited  to  its  mode  of  life. 
Even  in  White's  day  it  seems  to  have  been  on  the  chalk  downs  of  Sussex  that 
new  observations  on  this  bird  were  to  be  made.  On  the  cry  of  the  stone  curlew 
see  Letter  LIX.  to  Barrington.] 

2  [This  passage  is  an  important  one  in  the  history  of  British  ornithology.     The 
three  common  species  of  Phylloscopus  have  only  been  clearly  distinguished  since  it 
was  written:  (i)  the  chiffchaff  (P.  rufus,  Bechst.),  whose  loud  chirp  (harsh  seems 
hardly  appropriate),  black  legs  and  early  arrival  are  accurately  noted  ;    (2)  the 
willow- wren  (P.   trochilus,  L.),  slightly  larger  and  heavier,  with   pale  legs  and 
"  laughing"  note  ;  (3)  the  wood-wren  (P.  sibilatrix,  Bechst.),  which  White  had  not 
yet  procured,    the  bird  alluded   to  in  Letter  X.   to  Pennant,  which  makes  "a 
sibilous  shivering  noise  in  the  top  of  tall  woods",     It  is  accurately  described  in 
Letter  XIX.  to  Pennant.] 


OF  SELBORNE  37 

The  grasshopper-lark 1  began  his  sibilous  note  in  my  fields  last 
Saturday.  Nothing  can  be  more  amusing  than  the  whisper  of 
this  little  bird,  which  seems  to  be  close  by  though  at  an  hundred 
yards  distance  ;  and,  when  close  at  your  ear,  is  scarce  any  louder 
than  when  a  great  way  off.  Had  I  not  been  a  little  acquainted 
with  insects,  and  known  that  the  grasshopper  kind  is  not  yet 
hatched,  I  should  have  hardly  believed  but  that  it  had  been  a 
locusta  whispering  in  the  bushes.  The  country  people  laugh  when 
you  tell  them  that  it  is  the  note  of  a  bird.  It  is  a  most  artful 
creature,  sculking  in  the  thickest  part  of  a  bush ;  and  will  sing 
at  a  yard  distance,  provided  it  be  concealed.  I  was  obliged  to 
get  a  person  to  go  on  the  other  side  of  the  hedge  where  it 
haunted ;  and  then  it  would  run,  creeping  like  a  mouse,  before 
us  for  an  hundred  yards  together,  through  the  bottom  of  the 
thorns ;  yet  it  would  not  come  into  fair  sight :  but  in  a  morning 
early,  and  when  undisturbed,  it  sings  on  the  top  of  a  twig,  gaping 
and  shivering  with  it's  wings.  Mr.  Ray  himself  had  no  knowledge 
of  this  bird,  but  received  his  account  from  Mr.  Johnson,  who 
apparently  confounds  it  with  the  reguli  non  cristati,'2  from  which 
it  is  very  distinct.  See  Ray's  Philos.  Letters,  p.  108. 

The  fly-catcher 3  (stoparola)  has  not  yet  appeared :  it  usually 
breeds  in  my  vine.  The  redstart  begins  to  sing :  it's  note  is  short 
and  imperfect,  but  is  continued  till  about  the  middle  of  June. 
The  willow-wrens  4  (the  smaller  sort)  are  horrid  pests  in  a  garden, 
destroying  the  pease,  cherries,  currants,  &c. ;  and  are  so  tame 
that  a  gun  will  not  scare  them. 

A  LIST  of  the  SUMMER  BIRDS  of  PASSAGE  discovered  in  this 
neighbourhood,  ranged  somewhat  in  the  Order  in  which  they 
appear : 5 

Linnasi  Nomina. 

Smallest  willow-wren,  Motacilla  trochilus  : 

Wryneck,  Jynx  torquilla  : 

House-swallow,  Hirundo  rustica  : 

1  [Now  called  the  grasshopper  warbler  (Locustella  ncevia,  Bodd.),] 

2  [The  willow- wrens.] 

'•'•  [The  spotted  flycatcher  (Muscicapa  grisola,  L.).] 

4  [Chiffchafts  and  willow- wrens  come  into  gardens  after  their  moult  in  August, 
but  feed  chiefly  on  aphides  and  other  insects,  in  pursuit  of  which  they  may  do  a 
certain  amount  of  damage  to  fruit.     Garden-warblers  and  blackcaps,  on  the  other 
hand,  certainly  eat  fruit ;    and  Mr.  Harting  has  suggested  that  the  young  of  the 
former  (a  species  unknown  to  White)  were  mistaken  by  him  for  willow- wrens.] 

5  [In  preparing  this  list  for  Pennant's  use  White  adopts  the  Linnaean  names  ; 
in  Letters  I.  and  II.  to  Barrington  he  gives  the  names  used  in  Ray's  Synopsis 


38  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

Martin,  Hirundo  urbica  : 

Sand-martin,  Hirundo  riparia  : 

Cuckoo,  Cuculus  canorus  : 

Nightingale,  Motacilla  luscinia  : 

Blackcap,  Motacilla  atricapilla  : 

Whitethroat,  Motacilla  sylvia  : 

Middle  willow-wren,  Motacilla  trochilus: 

Swift,  Hirundo  apus  : 
Stone  curlew  ?,  Charadrius  oedicnemus  f 

Turtle-dove  ?,  Turtur  aldrovandi  f  * 

Grasshopper-lark,  A  lauda  trivialis : 2 

Landrail,  Rallus  crex  : 

Largest  willow-wren,  Motacilla  trochilus  : 

Redstart,  Motacilla  phcenicunts  : 
Goatsucker,  or  fern-owl,          Caprimulgus  europceus  : 

Fly-catcher,  Muscicapa  grisola. 


My  countrymen  talk  much  of  a  bird  that  makes  a  clatter  with 
it's  bill  against  a  dead  bough,  or  some  old  pales,  calling  it  a  jar- 
bird.  I  procured  one  to  be  shot  in  the  very  fact ;  it  proved  to 
be  the  sitta  europcea  (the  nuthatch).  Mr.  Ray  says  that  the  less 
spotted  woodpecker  does  the  same.  This  noise  may  be  heard  a 
furlong  or  more. 

Now  is  the  only  time  to  ascertain  the  short-winged  summer 
birds  ;  for,  when  the  leaf  is  out,  there  is  no  making  any  remarks 
on  such  a  restless  tribe  ;  and,  when  once  the  young  begin  to 
appear,  it  is  all  confusion:  there  is  no  distinction  of  genus, 
species,  or  sex.3 

In  breeding-time  snipes  play  over  the  moors,  piping  and 
humming :  they  always  hum  as  they  are  descending.  Is  not 
their  hum  ventriloquous  like  that  of  the  turkey  ?  Some  suspect 
it  is  made  by  their  wings.4 


Avium.  In  each  case  he  considers  the  prejudices  or  convenience  of  his  correspon- 
dent. Barrington  has  a  chapter  in  his  Miscellanies  written  to  prove  the  superiority 
of  Ray's  nomenclature  and  descriptions.] 

1  \Columba  turtur,  L.] 

2  ["  Linnaeus's^4/awt/a  trivialis  is  the  tree-pipit.    See  Yarr.,  4th  edit.,  i.,  pp.  369, 
370.      Linnaeus   did   not   know  the  grasshopper  lark  or  warbler." — Newton,  in 
Bell's  Ed.] 

3  [Had  White  lived  in  the  days  of  field-glasses,  he  would  not  have  worded  this 
paragraph  so  strongly,  but  it  is  true  enough  that  the  days  before  the  leaf  is  fully 
out  are  invaluable  to  a  field  ornithologist.] 

4  [See  Letters  X.  and  XXXIX.  to  Pennant.     The  "  drumming"  of  the  snipe  is 
now  generally  believed  to  be  made  both  by  wings  and  tail,  but  chiefly  by  the 
wings.] 


OF  SELBORNE  39 

This  morning  I  saw  the  golden-crowned  wren,  whose  crown 
glitters  like  burnished  gold.  It  often  hangs  like  a  titmouse, 
with  it's  back  downwards. 

Yours,  &c.,  &c. 


LETTER  XVII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  June  18,  1768. 
DEAR  SIR, 

ON  Wednesday  last  arrived  your  agreeable  letter  of  June  the  10th. 
It  gives  me  great  satisfaction  to  find  that  you  pursue  these  studies 
still  with  such  vigour,  and  are  in  such  forwardness  with  regard  to 
reptiles  and  fishes. 

The  reptiles,  few  as  they  are,  I  am  not  acquainted  with,  so 
well  as  I  could  wish,  with  regard  to  their  natural  history.  There 
is  a  degree  of  dubiousness  and  obscurity  attending  the  propaga- 
tion of  this  class  of  animals,  something  analogous  to  that  of  the 
cryptogamia  in  the  sexual  system  of  plants :  and  the  case  is  the 
same  with  regard  to  some  of  the  fishes ;  as  the  eel,  &c. 

The  method  in  which  toads  procreate  and  bring  forth  seems 
to  be  very  much  in  the  dark.  Some  authors  say  that  they  are 
viviparous  :  and  yet  Ray  classes  them  among  his  oviparous  ani- 
mals ;  and  is  silent  with  regard  to  the  manner  of  their  bringing 
forth.  Perhaps  they  may  be  etrw  /xev  WOTOKOI,  e£o>  Sc  £O>OTOKOI,  as  is 
known  to  be  the  case  with  the  viper.1 

The  copulation  of  frogs  (or  at  least  the  appearance  of  it ;  for 
Smammerdam  proves  that  the  male  has  no  penis  intrans}  is  notorious 
to  every  body :  because  we  see  them  sticking  upon  each  others' 
backs  for  a  month  together  in  the  spring :  and  yet  I  never  saw, 
or  read,  of  toads  being  observed  in  the  same  situation.  It  is 
strange  that  the  matter  with  regard  to  the  venom  of  toads  has 
not  been  yet  settled.  That  they  are  not  noxious  to  some  animals 
is  plain :  for  ducks,  buzzards,  owls,  stone  curlews,  and  snakes,  eat 
them,  to  my  knowledge,  with  impunity.  And  I  well  remember 
the  time,  but  was  not  eye-witness  to  the  fact  (though  numbers  of 

1  [The  reproductive  process  in  the  toad  is  very  similar  to  that  of  the  frog,  but 
the  eggs,  instead  of  being  densely  clustered,  form  a  rope,  often  many  yards  long.] 


40  THE  NATUEAL  HISTORY 

persons  were),  when  a  quack,  at  this  village,  ate  a  toad  to  make 
the  country-people  stare ;  afterwards  he  drank  oil.1 

I  have  been  informed  also,  from  undoubted  authority,  that 
some  ladies  (ladies  you  will  say  of  peculiar  taste)  took  a  fancy  to 
a  toad,  which  they  nourished  summer  after  summer,  for  many 
years,  till  he  grew  to  a  monstrous  size,  with  the  maggots  which 
turn  to  flesh  flies.  The  reptile  used  to  come  forth  every  evening 
from  an  hole  under  the  garden-steps ;  and  was  taken  up,  after 
supper,  on  the  table  to  be  fed.  But  at  last  a  tame  raven,  kenning 
him  as  he  put  forth  his  head,  gave  him  such  a  severe  stroke  with 
his  horny  beak  as  put  out  one  eye.  After  this  accident  the 
creature  languished  for  some  time  and  died. 

I  need  not  remind  a  gentleman  of  your  extensive  reading  of 
the  excellent  account  there  is  from  Mr.  Derham,  in  Hay  s  Wisdom 
of  God  in  the  Creation  (p.  365),  concerning  the  migration  of  frogs 
from  their  breeding  ponds.  In  this  account  he  at  once  subverts 
that  foolish  opinion  of  their  dropping  from  the  clouds  in  rain ; 
shewing  that  it  is  from  the  grateful  coolness  and  moisture  of 
those  showers  that  they  are  tempted  to  set  out  on  their  travels, 
which  they  defer  till  those  fall.  Frogs  are  as  yet  in  their  tadpole 
state  ;  but,  in  a  few  weeks,  our  lanes,  paths,  fields,  will  swarm  for 
a  few  days  with  myriads  of  those  emigrants,  no  larger  than  my 
little  finger  nail.  Swammerdam  gives  a  most  accurate  account  of 
the  method  and  situation  in  which  the  male  impregnates  the 

1  [Bell  gives  the  following  account  of  the  toad  from  a  paper  found  among 
White's  MSS.  It  is  in  a  boy's  handwriting,  and  was  probably  written  to  dictation. 
The  gardener  was  doubtless  White's  old  gardener,  Thomas  Hoar. 

"  The  benevolence  of  modern  naturalists  hath  induced  them  to  pronounce  the 
toad  harmless,  in  contradiction  to  the  extravagant  tales  of  the  ancients  concerning 
its  poisonous  qualities,  which  exposed  it  to  many  cruelties.  But  by  what  I  saw  the 
other  day,  I  am  convinced  it  hath  some  venomous  properties,  which  it  exerts  in  its 
defence.  There  seems  to  be  some  resemblance  between  the  toad  and  the  viper, 
and  the  frog  and  the  snake  :  the  frog  and  the  snake  have  a  power  of  escaping  from 
their  enemies  by  their  agility,  and  therefore  are  harmless  ;  but  the  toad  and  viper 
being  sluggish,  and  having  no  powers  of  escaping,  are  armed  with  poison.  As  I 
passed  the  gardener  the  other  day,  he  turned  up  a  toad  in  digging,  which  I  desired 
him  not  to  destroy,  as  it  was  an  inoffensive  animal,  and  helped  to  clear  the  ground 
of  grubs  and  insects  ;  upon  which,  to  convince  me  that  it  was  not  altogether  harm- 
less, he  took  the  toad  up  by  the  skin  of  its  back,  and  placing  it  on  a  gravel  walk, 
set  a  little  terrier  bitch  at  it,  who,  from  former  experiments,  was  aware  of  its 
venomous  quality,  and  tho'  naturally  very  fierce  and  eager,  she  touched  it  very 
gently  with  her  nose,  nothing  equal  to  the  gardener's  grasp  when  he  took  it  up, 
and  instantly  the  foam  came  from  her  mouth,  and  her  face  and  eyes  were  strongly 
convulsed.  This  continued  upon  her  half  an  hour,  during  which  time  she  would 
not  eat  any  thing  that  was  offered  her.  How  the  venom  was  communicated  I  am 
not  able  to  say.  Those  who  make  this  part  of  physiology  their  study  would  do 
well  to  try  the  experiment."] 


OF  SELBORNE  41 

spawn  of  the  female.  How  wonderful  is  the  oeconomy  of  Provi- 
dence with  regard  to  the  limbs  of  so  vile  a  reptile  !  While  it  is 
an  aquatic  it  has  a  fish-like  tail,  and  no  legs  :  as  soon  as  the  legs 
sprout,  the  tail  drops  off  as  useless/  and  the  animal  betakes 
itself  to  the  land  ! 

Merret,  I  trust,  is  widely  mistaken  when  he  advances  that  the 
rana  arborea  is  an  English  reptile ;  it  abounds  in  Germany  and 
Switzerland. 

It  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  salamandra  aquatica  of  Ray 
(the  water-newt  or  eft)  will  frequently  bite  at  the  angler's  bait, 
and  is  often  caught  on  his  hook.  I  used  to  take  it  for  granted 
that  the  salamandra  aquatica  was  hatched,  lived,  and  died,  in  the 
water.  But  John  Ellis,  Esq.  F.R.S.  (the  coralline  Ellis)  asserts, 
in  a  letter  to  the  Royal  Society,  dated  June  the  5th,  ]?66,  in 
his  account  of  the  mud  inguana,  an  amphibious  tripes  from  South 
Carolina,2  that  the  water-eft,  or  newt,  is  only  the  larva  of  the 
land-eft,  as  tadpoles  are  of  frogs.  Lest  I  should  be  suspected  to 
misunderstand  his  meaning,  I  shall  give  it  in  his  own  words. 
Speaking  of  the  opercula  or  coverings  to  the  gills  of  the  mud 
inguana,  he  proceeds  to  say  that  "The  form  of  these  pennated 
"  coverings  approach  very  near  to  what  I  have  some  time  ago 
"  observed  in  the  larva  or  aquatic  state  of  our  English  lacerta, 
"  known  by  the  name  of  eft,  or  newt ;  which  serve  them  for 
"  coverings  to  their  gills,  and  for  fins  to  swim  with  while  in  this 
"  state ;  and  which  they  lose,  as  well  as  the  fins  of  their  tails, 
"  when  they  change  their  state  and  become  land  animals,  as  I  have 
"observed,  by  keeping  them  alive  for  some  time  myself." 

Linnceus,  in  his  Systema  Natures,  hints  at  what  Mr.  Ellis  advances 
more  than  once. 

Providence  has  been  so  indulgent  to  us  as  to  allow  of  but  one 
venomous  reptile  of  the  serpent  kind  in  these  kingdoms,  and 
that  is  the  viper.  As  you  propose  the  good  of  mankind  to  be  an 
object  of  your  publications,  you  will  not  omit  to  mention  common 
sallad-oil  as  a  sovereign  remedy  against  the  bite  of  the  viper.  As 
to  the  blind  worm  (anguis  fragilis,  so  called  because  it  snaps  in 
sunder  with  a  small  blow),  I  have  found,  on  examination,  that  it 


1  [The  tadpole's  tail  does  not  drop  off,  but  is  absorbed  and  shrinks.] 

2  [The  Siren  lacertina  of  Linnaeus.    Some  of  the  elder  naturalists  took  this  to  be 
the  tadpole  of  some  salamander,  but  it  is  now  known  to  retain  its  gills  throughout 
life.     These  gills  are  the  "opercula"  or  "pennated  coverings"  mentioned  in  the 
text.    They  are  true  external  gills,  like  those  of  the  fresh-hatched  tadpole,  and  are 
not  used  as  fins  by  any  amphibian.] 


42  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

is  perfectly  innocuous.  A  neighbouring  yeoman  (to  whom  I  am 
indebted  for  some  good  hints)  killed  and  opened  a  female  viper 
about  the  twenty-seventh  of  May :  he  found  her  filled  with  a 
chain  of  eleven  eggs,  about  the  size  of  those  of  a  blackbird ;  but 
none  of  them  were  advanced  so  far  towards  a  state  of  maturity 
as  to  contain  any  rudiments  of  young.  Though  they  are  oviparous, 
yet  they  are  viviparous  also,  hatching  their  young  within  their 
bellies,  and  then  bringing  them  forth.  Whereas  snakes  lay  chains 
of  eggs  every  summer  in  my  melon  beds,  in  spite  of  all  that  my 
people  can  do  to  prevent  them ;  which  eggs  do  not  hatch  till 
the  spring  following,  as  I  have  often  experienced.  Several 
intelligent  folks  assure  me  that  they  have  seen  the  viper  open 
her  mouth  and  admit  her  helpless  young  down  her  throat  on 
sudden  surprises,  just  as  the  female  opossum  does  her  brood 
into  the  pouch  under  her  belly,  upon  the  like  emergencies  ;  and 
yet  the  London  viper-catchers  insist  on  it,  to  Mr.  Harrington,  that 
no  such  thing  ever  happens.  The  serpent  kind  eat,  I  believe, 
but  once  in  a  year ;  or,  rather,  but  only  just  at  one  season  of  the 
year.  Country  people  talk  much  of  a  water-snake,  but,  I  am 
pretty  sure,  without  any  reason ;  for  the  common  snake  (coluber 
natrix)  delights  much  to  sport  in  the  water,  perhaps  with  a  view 
to  procure  frogs  and  other  food. 

I  cannot  well  guess  how  you  are  to  make  out  your  twelve 
species  of  reptiles,1  unless  it  be  by  the  various  species,  or  rather 
varieties,  of  our  lacerti,  of  which  Ray  enumerates  five.  I  have 
not  had  opportunity  of  ascertaining  these  ;  but  remember  well 
to  have  seen,  formerly,  several  beautiful  green  lacerti  on  the 

1  [The  following  fourteen  species  of  reptiles  and  amphibians  are  now  known  as 
British  ;  those  marked  "  S  "  have  been  found  at  Selborne. 

Reptiles. 

Common  snake  (  Tropidonotus  natrix,  L. ),  S. 
Smooth  snake  (Coronella  Icevis,  Lac6p.). 
Viper  ( Viper  berus,  L.),  S. 
Common  lizard  (Lacerta  vivipara^  Jacq. ),  S. 
Sand  lizard  (L.  agilis,  L.). 
Green  lizard  (L.  viridis,  L.). 
Slowworm  (Anguis  fragilis,  L. ),  S. 

Amphibians. 

Great  crested  newt  (Triton  cristatus,  Laur.),  S. 
Smooth  newt  (T.  taeniatus,  Schn.),  S. 
Palmated  newt  (T  palmipes,  Latr.),  S. 
Common  toad  (Bafo  vulgaris,  Laur.),  S. 
Natterjack  (B.  calamita,  Laur.),  S. 
Common  frog  (Rana  temporaria,  L.),  S. 
Edible  frog  (R.  esculenta,  L.).] 


OF  SELBORNE  43 

sunny  sandbanks  near  Farnham,  in  Surrey  ;  and  Ray  admits  there 
are  such  in  Ireland. 


LETTER  XVIII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  July  27,  1768. 
DEAR   SIR, 

I  RECEIVED  your  obliging  and  communicative  letter  of  June  the 
28th,  while  I  was  on  a  visit  at  a  gentleman's  house,  where  I  had 
neither  books  to  turn  to,  nor  leisure  to  sit  down,  to  return  you  an 
answer  to  many  queries,  which  I  wanted  to  resolve  in  the  best 
manner  that  I  am  able. 

A  person,  by  my  order,  has  searched  our  brooks,  but  could 
find  no  such  fish  as  the  gasterostem  pungitius :  l  he  found  the 
gasterosteus  aculeatus'2  in  plenty.  This  morning,  in  a  basket, 
I  packed  a  little  earthen  pot  full  of  wet  moss,  and  in  it  some 
sticklebacks,  male  and  female ;  the  females  big  with  spawn : 
some  lamperns ;  some  bulls  heads ;  but  I  could  procure  no 
minnows.  This  basket  will  be  in  Fleet-street  by  eight  this  even- 
ing ;  so  I  hope  Mazel 3  will  have  them  fresh  and  fair  to-morrow 
morning.  I  gave  some  directions,  in  a  letter,  to  what  particulars 
the  engraver  should  be  attentive. 

Finding,  while  I  was  on  a  visit,  that  I  was  within  a  reasonable 
distance  of  Ambresbury,  I  sent  a  servant  over  to  that  town,  and 
procured  several  living  specimens  of  loaches,  which  he  brought, 
safe  and  brisk,  in  a  glass  decanter.  They  were  taken  in  the 
gullies  that  were  cut  for  watering  the  meadows.  From  these 
fishes  (which  measured  from  two  to  four  inches  in  length)  I  took 
the  following  description  :  "  The  loach,  in  it's  general  aspect,  has 
"  a  pellucid  appearance  :  it's  back  is  mottled  with  irregular  col- 
lections of  small  black  dots,  not  reaching  much  below  the 
"  linea  lateralis,  as  are  the  back  and  tail  fins  :  a  black  line  runs 
"  from  each  eye  down  to  the  nose ;  it's  belly  is  of  a  silvery  white  ; 
"the  upper  jaw  projects  beyond  the  lower,  and  is  surrounded 

1  [Ten-spined  stickleback.] 

2  [Three-spined  stickleback.] 

3  [Peter  Mazell,  the  engraver  of  the  plates  in  Pennant's  "  British  Zoology,"  and 
of  three  of  those  in  the  original  edition  of  this  work,  namely  the  two  of  the  church 
and  that  of  the  Plestor.—  Bell.] 


44  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

"  with  six  feelers,  three  on  each  side :  it's  pectoral  fins  are  large, 
"  it's  ventral  much  smaller ;  the  fin  behind  it's  anus  small ;  it's 
"dorsal-fin  large,  containing  eight  spines ;  it's  tail,  where  it  joins 
"to  the  tail-fin,  remarkably  broad,  without  any  taperness,  so  as 
"  to  be  characteristic  of  this  genus :  the  tail-fin  is  broad,  and 
"square  at  the  end.  From  the  breadth  and  muscular  strength 
"of  the  tail  it  appears  to  be  an  active  nimble  fish." 

In  my  visit  I  was  not  very  far  from  Hungerford,  and  did  not 
forget  to  make  some  inquiries  concerning  the  wonderful  method 
of  curing  cancers  by  means  of  toads.  Several  intelligent  persons, 
both  gentry  and  clergy,  do,  I  find,  give  a  great  deal  of  credit  to 
what  was  asserted  in  the  papers :  and  I  myself  dined  with  a 
clergyman  who  seemed  to  be  persuaded  that  what  is  related  is 
matter  of  fact ;  but,  when  I  came  to  attend  to  his  account,  I 
thought  I  discerned  circumstances  which  did  not  a  little  invali- 
date the  woman's  story  of  the  manner  in  which  she  came  by  her 
skill.  She  says  of  herself  "that,  labouring  under  a  virulent 
cancer,  she  went  to  some  church  where  there  was  a  vast  crowd : 
on  going  into  a  pew,  she  was  accosted  by  a  strange  clergyman ; 
who,  after  expressing  compassion  for  her  situation,  told  her  that 
if  she  would  make  such  an  application  of  living  toads  as  is 
mentioned  she  would  be  well ".  Now  is  it  likely  that  this  un- 
known gentleman  should  express  so  much  tenderness  for  this 
single  sufferer,  and  not  feel  any  for  the  many  thousands  that 
daily  languish  under  this  terrible  disorder  ?  Would  he  not  have 
made  use  of  this  invaluable  nostrum  for  his  own  emolument ;  or, 
at  least,  by  some  means  of  publication  or  other,  have  found  a 
method  of  making  it  public  for  the  good  of  mankind  ?  In  short, 
this  woman  (as  it  appears  to  me)  having  set  up  for  a  cancer- 
doctress,  finds  it  expedient  to  amuse  the  country  with  this  dark 
and  mysterious  relation. 

The  water-eft  has  not,  that  I  can  discern,  the  least  appearance 
of  any  gills  ; x  for  want  of  which  it  is  continually  rising  to  the 
surface  of  the  water  to  take  in-  fresh  air.  I  opened  a  big-bellied 
one  indeed,  and  found  it  full  of  spawn.  Not  that  this  circum- 
stance at  all  invalidates  the  assertion  that  they  are  lamias  :  for  the 
larvce  of  insects  are  full  of  eggs,  which  they  exclude  the  instant 
they  enter  their  last  state.  The  water-eft  is  continually  climbing 
over  the  brims  of  the  vessel,  within  which  we  keep  it  in  water, 

1  [This  is  true  of  full-grown  efts,  but  the  efts  pass  through  a  tadpole-stage,  in 
which  they  breathe  by  gills.] 


OF  SELBORNE  45 

and  wandering  away :  and  people  every  summer  see  numbers 
crawling  out  of  the  pools  where  they  are  hatched,  up  the  dry 
banks.  There  are  varieties  of  them,  differing  in  colour;  and 
some  have  fins  up  their  tail  and  back,  and  some  have  not.1 


LETTER   XIX. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  Aug.  17,  1768. 
DEAR  SIR, 

I  HAVE  now,  past  dispute,  made  out  three  distinct  species  of  the 
willow-wrens  (motacillce  Irochili)  which  constantly  and  invariably 
use  distinct  notes.  But,  at  the  same  time,  I  am  obliged  to  con- 
fess that  I  know  nothing  of  your  willow-lark.2  In  my  letter  of 
April  the  1 8th,  I  had  told  you  peremptorily  that  I  knew  your  willow- 
lark,  but  had  not  seen  it  then :  but,  when  I  came  to  procure  it, 
it  proved,  in  all  respects,  a  very  motacilla  trochilus ;  only  that  it 
is  a  size  larger  than  the  two  other,  and  the  yellow-green  of  the 
whole  upper  part  of  the  body  is  more  vivid,  and  the  belly  of  a 
clearer  white.  I  have  specimens  of  the  three  sorts  now  lying 
before  me ;  and  can  discern  that  there  are  three  gradations  of 
sizes,  and  that  the  least  has  black  legs,  and  the  other  two  flesh- 
coloured  ones.  The  yellowest  bird  is  considerably  the  largest, 
and  has  it's  quill-feathers  and  secondary  feathers  tipped  with 
white,  which  the  others  have  not.  This  last  haunts  only  the 
tops  of  trees  in  high  beechen  woods,  and  makes  a  sibilous  grass- 
hopper-like noise,  now  and  then,  at  short  intervals,  shivering  a 
little  with  its  wings  when  it  sings  ;  and  is,  I  make  no  doubt  now, 
the  regains  non  cristatus  of  Ray  ;  which  he  says  "  cantat  voce  striduld 
locustce  ".  Yet  this  great  ornithologist  never  suspected  that  there 
were  three  species.3 

1  [In  the  breeding  season  the  males  of  several  species  of  triton  have  fins  along 
the  tail  and  back,  which  are  not  found  at  other  times.] 

2  Brit.  Zool.  edit.  1776,  octavo,  p.  381. 

3  [See  note  to  p.  36.] 


46  THE  NATUEAL  HISTORY 


LETTER   XX. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  October  8,  1768. 

IT  is,  I  find,  in  zoology  as  it  is  in  botany :  all  nature  is  so  full, 
that  that  district  produces  the  greatest  variety  which  is  the  most 
examined.  Several  birds,  which  are  said  to  belong  to  the  north 
only,  are,  it  seems,  often  in  the  south.  I  have  discovered  this 
summer  three  species  of  birds  with  us,  which  writers  mention  as 
only  to  be  seen  in  the  northern  counties.  The  first  that  was 
brought  me  (on  the  14th  of  May)  was  the  sandpiper,  tringa 
hypoleuciM :  it  was  a  cock  bird,  and  haunted  the  banks  of  some 
ponds  near  the  village  ;  and,  as  it  had  a  companion,  doubtless 
intended  to  have  bred  near  that  water.  Besides,  the  owner  has 
told  me  since,  that,  on  recollection,  he  has  seen  some  of  the  same 
birds  round  his  ponds  in  former  summers. 

The  next  bird  that  I  procured  (on  the  21st  of  May)  was  a  male 
red-backed  butcher  bird,  lanius  collurio.  My  neighbour,  who 
shot  it,  says  that  it  might  easily  have  escaped  his  notice,  had 
not  the  outcries  and  chattering  of  the  white-throats  and  other 
small  birds  drawn  his  attention  to  the  bush  where  it  was  :  it's 
craw  was  filled  with  the  legs  and  wings  of  beetles. 

The  next  rare  birds  (which  were  procured  for  me  last  week) 
were  some  ring-ousels,  turdi  torquatL 

This  week  twelve  months  a  gentleman  from  London,  being 
with  us,  was  amusing  himself  with  a  gun,  and  found,  he  told  us, 
on  an  old  yew  hedge  where  there  were  berries,  some  birds  like 
blackbirds,  with  rings  of  white  round  their  necks  :  a  neighbouring 
farmer  also  at  the  same  time  observed  the  same  ;  but,  as  no 
specimens  were  procured,  little  notice  was  taken.  I  mentioned 
this  circumstance  to  you  in  my  letter  of  November  the  4th,  1767  : 
(you  however  paid  but  small  regard  to  what  I  said,  as  I  had  not 
seen  these  birds  myself)  :  but  last  week  the  aforesaid  farmer, 
seeing  a  large  flock,  twenty  or  thirty  of  these  birds,  shot  two 
cocks  and  two  hens :  and  says,  on  recollection,  that  he  remembers 
to  have  observed  these  birds  again  last  spring,  about  Lady-day, 
as  it  were,  on  their  return  to  the  north.  Now  perhaps  these 
ousels  are  not  the  ousels  of  the  north  of  England,  but  belong  to 
the  more  northern  parts  of  Europe ;  and  may  retire  before  the 
excessive  rigor  of  the  frosts  in  those  parts ;  and  return  to  breed 


OF  SELBORNE  47 

in  the  spring,  when  the  cold  abates.  If  this  be  the  case,  here  is 
discovered  a  new  bird  of  winter  passage,  concerning  whose  migra- 
tions the  writers  are  silent :  but  if  these  birds  should  prove  the 
ousels  of  the  north  of  England,  then  here  is  a  migration  disclosed 
within  our  own  kingdom  never  before  remarked.  It  does  not 
yet  appear  whether  they  retire  beyond  the  bounds  of  our  island 
to  the  south  ;  but  it  is  most  probable  that  they  usually  do,  or  else 
one  cannot  suppose  that  they  would  have  continued  so  long 
unnoticed  in  the  southern  counties.  The  ousel  is  larger  than  a 
blackbird,  and  feeds  on  haws ;  but  last  autumn  (when  there  were 
no  haws)  it  fed  on  yew-berries :  in  the  spring  it  feeds  on  ivy- 
berries,  which  ripen  only  at  that  season,  in  March  and  April.1 

I  must  not  omit  to  tell  you  (as  you  have  been  so  lately  on  the 
study  of  reptiles)  that  my  people,  every  now  and  then  of  late, 
draw  up  with  a  bucket  of  water  from  my  well,  which  is  63  feet 
deep,  a  large  black  warty  lizard  with  a  fin-tail  and  yellow  belly.2 
How  they  first  came  down  at  that  depth,  and  how  they  were 
ever  to  have  got  out  thence  without  help,  is  more  than  I  am  able 
to  say. 

My  thanks  are  due  to  you  for  your  trouble  and  care  in  the  ex- 
amination of  a  buck's  head.  As  far  as  your  discoveries  reach  at 
present,  they  seem  much  to  corroborate  my  suspicions  ;  and  I 

hope  Mr. may  find  reason  to  give  his  decision  in  my  favour ; 

and  then,  I  think,  we  may  advance  this  extraordinary  provision 
of  nature  as  a  new  instance  of  the  wisdom  of  God  in  the  creation. 

As  yet  I  have  not  quite  done  with  my  history  of  the  oedicnemus, 
or  stone-curlew ;  for  I  shall  desire  a  gentleman  in  Sussex  (near 
whose  house  these  birds  congregate  in  vast  flocks  in  the  autumn) 
to  observe  nicely  when  they  leave  him,  (if  they  do  leave  him) 
and  when  they  return  again  in  the  spring :  I  was  with  this 
gentleman  lately,  and  saw  several  single  birds. 

1  [White's  further  notes  on  the  ring- ouzel  will  be  found  in  Letters  XXL,  XXIV., 
XXV.,  XXVI.,  XXXI. ,  XXXVIII.  to  Pennant,  and  VII.  to  Harrington.  He  was 
the  first  writer  to  record  its  arrival  and  brief  stay  near  the  south  coast  in  spring  and 
autumn.  These  movements  stimulated  his  curiosity,  and  led,  in  spite  of  inaccurate 
information  from  Pennant  (see  Letter  XXI. ),  to  much  enlightenment  on  the  question 
of  migration.  The  ring-ouzel  is  strictly  a  summer  migrant,  as  White  seems  to  have 
guessed  when  he  wrote  Letter  VII.  to  Harrington ;  in  the  present  letter  he  is  in- 
clined to  class  it  with  the  winter  migrants,  fieldfares,  etc.] 

3  [The  great  crested  newt.] 


48  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 


LETTER    XXI. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  Nov.  28,  1768. 


DEAR  SIR, 


WITH  regard  to  the  oedicnemus,  or  stone-curlew,  I  intend  to  write 
very  soon  to  my  friend  near  Chickester,1  in  whose  neighbourhood 
these  birds  seem  most  to  abound ;  and  shall  urge  him  to  take 
particular  notice  when  they  begin  to  congregate,  and  afterwards 
to  watch  them  most  narrowly  whether  they  do  not  withdraw 
themselves  during  the  dead  of  the  winter.  When  I  have  obtained 
information  with  respect  to  this  circumstance,  I  shall  have  finished 
my  history  of  the  stone-curlew  ;  which  I  hope  will  prove  to  your 
satisfaction,  as  it  will  be,  I  trust,  very  near  the  truth.  This 
gentleman,  as  he  occupies  a  large  farm  of  his  own,  and  is  abroad 
early  and  late,  will  be  a  very  proper  spy  upon  the  motions  of 
these  birds :  and  besides,  as  I  have  prevailed  on  him  to  buy  the 
Naturalist's  Journal2  (with  which  he  is  much  delighted),  I  shall 
expect  that  he  will  be  very  exact  in  his  dates.  It  is  very  extra- 
ordinary, as  you  observe,  that  a  bird  so  common  with  us  should 
never  straggle  to  you. 

And  here  will  be  the  properest  place  to  mention,  while  I  think 
of  it,  an  anecdote  which  the  above-mentioned  gentleman  told  me 
when  I  was  last  at  his  house  ;  which  was  that,  in  a  warren  joining 
to  his  outlet,  many  daws  (corvi  monedtilce)  build  every  year  in  the 
rabbit-burrows  under  ground.  The  way  he  and  his  brothers  used 
to  take  their  nests,  while  they  were  boys,  was  by  listening  at  the 
mouths  of  the  holes ;  and,  if  they  heard  the  young  ones  cry,  they 
twisted  the  nest  out  with  a  forked  stick.  Some  water-fowls  (viz. 
the  puffins)  breed,  I  know,  in  that  manner ;  but  I  should  never 
have  suspected  the  daws  of  building  in  holes  on  the  flat  ground. 

Another  very  unlikely  spot  is  made  use  of  by  daws  as  a  place 
to  breed  in,  and  that  is  Stonehenge.  These  birds  deposit  their 
nests  in  the  interstices  between  the  upright  and  the  impost 
stones  of  that  amazing  work  of  antiquity :  which  circumstance 

1  [This  was  his  brother-in-law's  brother,  John  Woods,  of  Chilgrove,  about  six 
miles  from  Chichester.] 

z[TAe  Naturalist's  Journal,  printed  for  W.  Sandby,  Fleet  Street,  London, 
1767.  Price  one  shilling  and  sixpence.  This  was  drawn  up  on  the  plan  recom- 
mended by  Daines  Harrington.  A  copy  was  sent  every  year  to  Gilbert  White,  and 
these  diaries,  filled  up  by  him,  are  now  preserved  in  the  British  Museum.] 


OF  SELBOENE  49 

alone  speaks  the  prodigious  height  of  the  upright  stones,  that 
they  should  be  tall  enough  to  secure  those  nests  from  the  annoy- 
ance  of  shepherd-boys,  who  are  always  idling  round  that  place. 

One  of  my  neighbours  last  Saturday,  November  the  26th,  saw  a 
martin  in  a  sheltered  bottom  :  the  sun  shone  warm,  and  the  bird 
was  hawking  briskly  after  flies.  I  am  now  perfectly  satisfied 
that  they  do  not  all  leave  this  island  in  the  winter. 

You  judge  very  right,  I  think,  in  speaking  with  reserve  and 
caution  concerning  the  cures  done  by  toads  :  for,  let  people  ad- 
vance what  they  will  on  such  subjects,  yet  there  is  such  a  pro- 
pensity in  mankind  towards  deceiving  and  being  deceived,  that 
one  cannot  safely  relate  any  thing  from  common  report,  especially 
in  print,  without  expressing  some  degree  of  doubt  and  suspicion. 

Your  approbation,  with  regard  to  my  new  discovery  of  the 
migration  of  the  ring-ousel,  gives  me  satisfaction  ;  and  I  find  you 
concur  with  me  in  suspecting  that  they  are  foreign  birds  which 
visit  us.  You  will  be  sure,  I  hope,  not  to  omit  to  make  inquiry 
whether  your  ring-ousels  leave  your  rocks  in  the  autumn.  What 
puzzles  me  most,  is  the  very  short  stay  they  make  with  us ;  for 
in  about  three  weeks  they  are  all  gone.  I  shall  be  very  curious 
to  remark  whether  they  will  call  on  us  at  their  return  in  the 
spring,  as  they  did  last  year. 

I  want  to  be  better  informed  with  regard  to  ichthyology.  If 
fortune  had  settled  me  near  the  sea-side,  or  near  some  great 
river,  my  natural  propensity  would  soon  have  urged  me  to  have 
made  myself  acquainted  with  their  productions  :  but  as  I  have 
lived  mostly  in  inland  parts,  and  in  an  upland  district,  my  know- 
ledge of  fishes  extends  little  farther  than  to  those  common  sorts 
which  our  brooks  and  lakes  produce. 

I  am,  &c. 


LETTER  XXII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  Jan.  2,  1769. 

DEAR  SIR, 

As  to  the  peculiarity  of  jackdaws  building  with  us  under  the 
ground  in  rabbit -burrows,  you  have,  in  part,  hit  upon  the  reason  ; 
for,  in  reality,  there  are  hardly  any  towers  or  steeples  in  all  this 
country.  And  perhaps,  Norfolk  excepted,  Hampshire  and  Sussex 
4 


50  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

are  as  meanly  furnished  with  churches  as  almost  any  counties 
in  the  kingdom.  We  have  many  livings  of  two  or  three  hundred 
pounds  a  year,  whose  houses  of  worship  make  little  better  appear- 
ance than  dovecots.  When  I  first  saw  Northamptonshire,  Cam- 
bridgeshire and  Huntingdonshire,  and  the  fens  of  Lincolnshire,  I 
was  amazed  at  the  number  of  spires  which  presented  themselves 
in  every  point  of  view.  As  an  admirer  of  prospects,  I  have 
reason  to  lament  this  want  in  my  own  country  ;  for  such  objects 
are  very  necessary  ingredients  in  an  elegant  landscape. 

What  you  mention  with  respect  to  reclaimed  toads  raises 
my  curiosity.  An  ancient  author,  though  no  naturalist,  has 
well  remarked  that  "  Every  kind  of  beasts,  and  of  birds,  and  of 
"  serpents,  and  things  in  the  sea,  is  tamed,  and  hath  been  tamed,  of 
"  mankind  ".l 

It  is  a  satisfaction  to  me  to  find  that  a  green  lizard  has  actually 
been  procured  for  you  in  Devonshire  ;  because  it  corroborates  my 
discovery,  which  I  made  many  years  ago,  of  the  same  sort, 
on  a  sunny  sandbank  near  Farnham  in  Surrey.^1  I  am  well 
acquainted  with  the  south  hams  of  Devonshire  ;  and  can  suppose 
that  district,  from  its  southerly  situation,  to  be  a  proper  habi- 
tation for  such  animals  in  their  best  colours. 

Since  the  ring-ousels  of  your  vast  mountains  do  certainly  not 
forsake  them  against  winter,  our  suspicions  that  those  which 
visit  this  neighbourhood  about  Michaelmas  are  not  English  birds, 
but  driven  from  the  more  northern  parts  of  Europe  by  the  frosts, 
are  still  more  reasonable  ;  and  it  will  be  worth  your  pains  to 
endeavour  to  trace  from  whence  they  come,  and  to  inquire  why 
they  make  so  very  short  a  stay.3 

In  your  account  of  your  error  with  regard  to  the  two  species 
of  herons,  you  incidentally  gave  me  great  entertainment  in  your 
description  of  the  heronry  at  Cressi-hall ;  which  is  a  curiosity 
I  never  could  manage  to  see.  Fourscore  nests  of  such  a  bird  on 
one  tree  is  a  rarity  which  I  would  ride  half  as  many  miles  to 
have  a  sight  of.  Pray  be  sure  to  tell  me  in  your  next  whose  seat 
Cressi-hall  is,  and  near  what  town  it  lies.4  I  have  often  thought 

1  James,  chap.  Hi.  7. 

2  [The  green  lizards  of  this  and  the  following  letter  were  no  doubt  sand  lizards 
(Lacerta  agilis,   L.).     The  green  lizard  of  Guernsey  and  Southern  Europe  (L. 
viridis,  L.)  has  not  been  found  in  Great  Britain  or  Ireland.] 

3  [Pennant  was  wrong  in  supposing  that  the  ring-ouzels  wintered  in  the  "vast 
mountains  "  (i.e. ,  of  North  Wales  and  Scotland) ;  and  thus  for  a  time  misled  White 
in  his  speculations  on  the  migration  of  this  species.] 

4  Cressi-hall  is  near  Spalding,  in  Lincolnshire 


OF  SELBORNE  51 

that  those  vast  extents  of  fens  have  never  been  sufficiently 
explored.  If  half  a  dozen  gentlemen,  furnished  with  a  good 
strength  of  water-spaniels,  were  to  beat  them  over  for  a  week, 
they  would  certainly  find  more  species. 

There  is  no  bird,  I  believe,  whose  manners  I  have  studied 
more  than  that  of  the  caprimulgus  (the  goat-sucker),  as  it  is  a 
wonderful  and  curious  creature  :  but  I  have  always  found  that 
though  sometimes  it  may  chatter  as  it  flies,  as  I  know  it  does, 
yet  in  general  it  utters  it's  jarring  note  sitting  on  a  bough ;  and 
I  have  for  many  an  half  hour  watched  it  as  it  sat  with  it's  under 
mandible  quivering,  and  particularly  this  summer.  It  perches 
usually  on  a  bare  twig,  with  it's  head  lower  than  it's  tail,  in  an 
attitude  well  expressed  by  your  draughtsman  in  the  folio  British 
Zoology.  This  bird  is  most  punctual  in  beginning  it's  song 
exactly  at  the  close  of  day ;  so  exactly  that  I  have  known  it 
strike  up  more  than  once  or  twice  just  at  the  report  of  the 
Portsmouth  evening  gun,  which  we  can  hear  when  the  weather 
is  still.  It  appears  to  me  past  all  doubt  that  it's  notes  are  formed 
by  organic  impulse,  by  the  powers  of  the  parts  of  it's  windpipe, 
formed  for  sound,  just  as  cats  pur.1  You  will  credit  me,  I  hope, 
when  I  assure  you  that,  as  my  neighbours  were  assembled  in  an 
hermitage  on  the  side  of  a  steep  hill  where  we  drink  tea,  one  of 
these  churn-owls  came  and  settled  on  the  cross  of  that  little 
straw  edifice  and  began  to  chatter,  and  continued  his  note  for 
many  minutes  :  and  we  were  all  struck  with  wonder  to  find  that 
the  organs  of  that  little  animal,  when  put  in  motion,  gave 
a  sensible  vibration  to  the  whole  building !  This  bird  also 
sometimes  makes  a  small  squeak,  repeated  four  or  five  times ; 
and  I  have  observed  that  to  happen  when  the  cock  has  been 
pursuing  the  hen  in  a  toying  way  through  the  boughs  of  a 
tree. 

It  would  not  be  at  all  strange  if  your  bat,  which  you  have 
procured,  should  prove  a  new  one,  since  five  species  have  been 
found  in  a  neighbouring  kingdom.  The  great  sort  that  I  men- 

1  [In  the  original  letter,  as  sent  to  Pennant,  the  following  passage  occurs,  which 
is  omitted  from  the  book  (it  precedes  the  paragraph  in  the  text  relative  to  this 
bird) : — "There  is  a  passage  in  the  article  Goatsucker,  page  247  "  [of  the  "  British 
Zoology"]  "which  you  will  pardon  me  for  objecting  to,  as  1  always  thought  it 
exceptionable ;  and  that  is,  '  This  noise  being  made  only  in  its  flight,  we  suppose 
it  to  be  caused  by  the  resistance  of  the  air  against  the  hollow  of  its  vastly  extended 
mouth  and  throat ;  for  it  flies  with  both  wide  open,  to  take  its  prey '.  Now,  as 
the  first  line  appears  to  me  to  be  a  false  fact,  the  supposition  of  course  falls  to 
the  ground,  if  it  should  prove  so." — Bell.} 


52  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

tioned  is  certainly  a  noii-descript :  I  saw  but  one  this  summer, 
and  that  I  had  no  opportunity  of  taking.1 

Your  account  of  the  Indian-grass  was  entertaining.  I  am  110 
angler  myself;  but  inquiring  of  those  that  are,  what  they  sup- 
posed that  part  of  their  tackle  to  be  made  of?  they  replied  "of 
the  intestines  of  a  silkworm  ". 

Though  I  must  not  pretend  to  great  skill  in  entomology,  yet 
I  cannot  say  that  I  am  ignorant  of  that  kind  of  knowledge  :  I 
may  now  and  then  perhaps  be  able  to  furnish  you  with  a  little 
information. 

The  vast  rains  ceased  with  us  much  about  the  same  time  as 
with  you,  and  since  we  have  had  delicate  weather.  Mr.  Barker, 
who  has  measured  the  rain  for  more  than  thirty  years,  says,  in 
a  late  letter,  that  more  has  fallen  this  year  than  in  any  he  ever 
attended  to ;  though,  from  July  1763  to  January  1764,  more  fell 
than  in  any  seven  months  of  this  year. 


LETTER  XXIII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  February  28,  1769. 


DEAR  SIR, 


IT  is  not  improbable  that  the  Guernsey  lizard  and  our  green 
lizards  may  be  specifically  the  same ;  all  that  I  know  is,  that, 
when  some  years  ago  many  Guernsey  lizards  were  turned  loose 
in  Pembroke  college  garden,  in  the  university  of  Oxford,  they 
lived  a  great  while,  and  seemed  to  enjoy  themselves  very  well, 
but  never  bred.  Whether  this  circumstance  will  prove  any  thing 
either  way  I  shall  not  pretend  to  say. 

I  return  you  thanks  for  your  account  of  Cressi-hall ;  but  re- 
collect, not  without  regret,  that  in  June  1746  I  was  visiting  for 
a  week  together  at  Spalding,  without  ever  being  told  that  such 
a  curiosity  was  just  at  hand.  Pray  send  me  word  in  your  next 
what  sort  of  tree  it  is  that  contains  such  a  quantity  of  herons' 
nests  ;  and  whether  the  heronry  consists  of  a  whole  grove  or 
wood,  or  only  of  a  few  trees. 

It  gave  me  satisfaction  to  find  that  we  accorded  so  well  about 
the  caprimulgus :  all  I  contended  for  was  to  prove  that  it  often 

1  [Fifteen  species  of  bat  are  now  recorded  from  the  British  Islands.  For  the 
noctule,  here  called  "  the  great  sort,"  see  note  to  Letter  XXXVI.  to  Pennant.] 


OF  SELBOENE  53 

chatters  sitting  as  well  as  flying ;  and  therefore  the  noise  was 
voluntary,  and  from  organic  impulse,  and  not  from  the  resistance 
of  the  air  against  the  hollow  of  its  mouth  and  throat. 

If  ever  I  saw  any  thing  like  actual  migration,  it  was  last 
Michaelmas-day.  I  was  travelling,  and  out  early  in  the  morning : 
at  first  there  was  a  vast  fog ;  but,  by  the  time  that  I  was  got 
seven  or  eight  miles  from  home  towards  the  coast,  the  sun  broke 
out  into  a  delicate  warm  day.  We  were  then  on  a  large  heath 
or  common,  and  I  could  discern,  as  the  mist  began  to  break 
away,  great  numbers  of  swallows  (hirundines  rusticce)  clustering 
on  the  stunted  shrubs  and  bushes,  as  if  they  had  roosted  there 
all  night.  As  soon  as  the  air  became  clear  and  pleasant  they 
all  were  on  the  wing  at  once  ;  and,  by  a  placid  and  easy  flight, 
proceeded  on  southward  towards  the  sea :  after  this  I  did  not 
see  any  more  flocks,  only  now  and  then  a  straggler. 

I  cannot  agree  with  those  persons  that  assert  that  the  swallow 
kind  disappear  some  and  some  gradually,  as  they  come,  for  the 
bulk  of  them  seem  to  withdraw  at  once  : l  only  some  stragglers 
stay  behind  a  long  while,  and  do  never,  there  is  the  greatest 
reason  to  believe,  leave  this  island.  Swallows  seem  to  lay  them- 
selves up,  and  to  come  forth  in  a  warm  day,  as  bats  do  continually 
of  a  warm  evening,  after  they  have  disappeared  for  weeks.  For 
a  very  respectable  gentleman  assured  me  that,  as  he  was  walking 
with  some  friends  under  Merton-wall  on  a  remarkably  hot  noon, 
either  in  the  last  week  in  December  or  the  first  week  in  January, 
he  espied  three  or  four  swallows  huddled  together  on  the  mould- 
ing of  one  of  the  windows  of  that  college.  I  have  frequently 
remarked  that  swallows  are  seen  later  at  Oxford  than  elsewhere  : 
is  it  owing  to  the  vast  massy  buildings  of  that  place,  to  the 
many  waters  round  it,  or  to  what  else  ? 2 

When  I  used  to  rise  in  a  morning  last  autumn,  and  see  the 
swallows  and  martins  clustering  on  the  chimnies  and  thatch 
of  the  neighbouring  cottages,  I  could  not  help  being  touched 
with  a  secret  delight,  mixed  with  some  degree  of  mortification  : 
with  delight,  to  observe  with  how  much  ardour  and  punctuality 
those  poor  little  birds  obeyed  the  strong  impulse  towards  migra- 

1  [White  was  here  in  error ;  swallows  and  martins  leave  gradually,  travelling 
from  their  haunts  to  the  coast  in  successive  parties.     Had  he  discovered  this, 
he  would  have  been  saved  much  needless  speculation,  as  will  be  seen  further  on. 
See  Introduction,  p.  xxxv.] 

2  [Merton  College,  and  particularly  the  southern  side  of  it,  looking  on  Christ 
Church  meadow,  is  still  a  favourite  haunt  of  belated  swallows,  owing  no  doubt  to 
its  sunny  aspect  and  the  abundance  of  insects  in  the  meadow.] 


54  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

tion,  or  hiding,  imprinted  on  their  minds  by  their  great  Creator ; 
and  with  some  degree  of  mortification,  when  I  reflected  that, 
after  all  our  pains  and  inquiries,  we  are  yet  not  quite  certain  to 
what  regions  they  do  migrate ;  and  are  still  farther  embarrassed 
to  find  that  some  do  not  actually  migrate  at  all. 

These  reflections  made  so  strong  an  impression  on  my  imagina- 
tion, that  they  became  productive  of  a  composition  that  may 
perhaps  amuse  you  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  when  next  I  have 
the  honour  of  writing  to  you. 


LETTER  XXIV. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  May  29,  1769. 
DEAR  SIR, 

THE  scarabasus  fullo l  I  know  very  well,  having  seen  it  in  collec- 
tions ;  but  have  never  been  able  to  discover  one  wild  in  its 
natural  state.  Mr.  Banks  told  me  he  thought  it  might  be  found 
on  the  sea-coast. 

On  the  thirteenth  of  April  I  went  to  the  sheep-down,  where 
the  ring-ousels  have  been  observed  to  make  their  appearance  at 
spring  and  fall,  in  their  way  perhaps  to  the  north  or  south  ;  and 
was  much  pleased  to  see  three  birds  about  the  usual  spot.  We 
shot  a  cock  and  a  hen ;  they  were  plump  and  in  high  condition. 
The  hen  had  but  very  small  rudiments  of  eggs  within  her,  which 
proves  they  are  late  breeders ;  whereas  those  species  of  the 
thrush  kind  that  remain  with  us  the  whole  year  have  fledged 
young  before  that  time.  In  their  crops  was  nothing  very  dis- 
tinguishable, but  somewhat  that  seemed  like  blades  of  vegetables 
nearly  digested.  In  autumn  they  feed  on  haws  and  yew-berries, 
and  in  the  spring  on  ivy-berries.  I  dressed  one  of  these  birds, 
and  found  it  juicy  and  well-flavoured.  It  is  remarkable  that 
they  make  but  a  few  days'  stay  in  their  spring  visit,  but  rest  near 
a  fortnight  at  Michaelmas.  These  birds,  from  the  observations  of 
three  springs  and  two  autumns,  are  most  punctual  in  their  return ; 
and  exhibit  a  new  migration  unnoticed  by  the  writers,  who  sup- 
posed they  never  were  to  be  seen  in  any  of  the  southern  counties. 

1  \Melolonthafullo,  F.  This  large  cockchafer  has  often  been  taken  on  the 
Kentish  coast,  but  is  believed  to  be  always  imported  from  France.] 


OF  SELBORNE  55 

One  of  my  neighbours  lately  brought  me  a  new  salicaria, 
which  at  first  I  suspected  might  have  proved  your  willow-lark,1 
but,  on  a  nicer  examination,  it  answered  much  better  to  the 
description  of  that  species  which  you  shot  at  Revesby,  in  Lincoln- 
shire.2 My  bird  I  describe  thus :  "  It  is  a  size  less  than  the 
"  grasshopper-lark ;  the  head,  back,  and  coverts  of  the  wings, 
"  of  a  dusky  brown,  without  those  dark  spots  of  the  grasshopper- 
"  lark  ;  over  each  eye  is  a  milkwhite  stroke  ;  the  chin  and  throat 
"  are  white,  and  the  under  parts  of  a  yellowish  white  ;  the  rump 
"(is  tawny,  and  the  feathers  of  the  tail  sharp-pointed ;  the  bill  is 
"  dusky  and  sharp,  and  the  legs  are  dusky  ;  the  hinder  claw  long 
"and  crooked".  The  person  that  shot  it  says  that  it  sung  so 
like  a  reed-sparrow  that  he  took  it  for  one ;  and  that  it  sings  all 
night :  but  this  account  merits  farther  inquiry.  For  my  part, 
I  suspect  it  is  a  second  sort  of  locustella,  hinted  at  by  Dr.  Derham 
in  Ray's  Letters  :  see  p.  108.  He  also  procured  me  a  grasshopper- 
lark. 

The  question  that  you  put  with  regard  to  those  genera  of 
animals  that  are  peculiar  to  America,  viz.  how  they  came  there, 
and  whence  ?  is  too  puzzling  for  me  to  answer ;  and  yet  so 
obvious  as  often  to  have  struck  me  with  wonder.  If  one  looks 
into  the  writers  on  that  subject  little  satisfaction  is  to  be  found. 
Ingenious  men  will  readily  advance  plausible  arguments  to  sup- 
port whatever  theory  they  shall  chuse  to  maintain ;  but  then 
the  misfortune  is,  every  one's  hypothesis  is  each  as  good  as 
another's,  since  they  are  all  founded  on  conjecture.  The  late 
writers  of  this  sort,  in  whom  may  be  seen  all  the  arguments 
of  those  that  have  gone  before,  as  I  remember,  stock  America 
from  the  western  coast  of  Africa  and  the  south  of  Europe ;  and 
then  break  down  the  Isthmus  that  bridged  over  the  Atlantic.* 

1  For  this  salicaria  see  letter  August  30,  1769. 

[The  Sedge-warbler.  See  next  letter.  ' '  The  remark  of  White's  informant 
that  the  bird  he  procured  '  sung  so  like  a  reed  sparrow '  is  a  mistake  which  a 
casual  observer  might  easily  make,  since  the  sedge-warbler  often  sings  concealed  in 
a  patch  of  reeds  or  sedge,  while  the  unmusical  reed-bunting  (Emberiza  schoeniclus), 
sitting  conspicuously  on  a  reed  top,  gets  all  the  credit  for  the  song"  (Harting). 
The  late  Mr.  Seebohm  (British  Birds,  vol.  i.,  p.  353)  needlessly  accused  White  of 
confusing  this  bird  with  the  reed-warbler  (Acrocepkalus  streperus,  Vieill.),  a  bird 
apparently  unknown  to  him,  because  he  describes  the  upper  parts  as  being  "  with- 
out those  dark  spots  of  the  grasshopper-lark  ".  Neither  reed-warbler  nor  sedge- 
warbler  has  dark  spots  in  the  centre  of  the  feathers  answering  exactly  to  those  in 
the  grasshopper- war  bier.] 

2  [The  seat  of  Sir  Joseph  Banks.] 

3  [Among  the  "late  writers  of  this  sort"  was   Buffon  (Histoire  Naturelle). 
Those  who  remember  what  a  facile  expedient  writers  on  geographical  distribution 


56  THE  NATUEAL  HISTORY 

But  this  is  making  use  of  a  violent  piece  of  machinery :  it  is 
a  difficulty  worthy  of  the  interposition  of  a  god !  "  Incredulus 
odi." 


TO  THOMAS  PENNANT,  ESQUIRE. 

THE  NATURALIST'S  SUMMER-EVENING  WALK. 

equidem  credo,  quia  sit  divinitus  illis 

Ingenium.  ViRG.  Georg. 

WHEN  day  declining  sheds  a  milder  gleam, 

What  time  the  may-fly *  haunts  the  pool  or  stream  ; 

When  the  still  owl  skims  round  the  grassy  mead, 

What  time  the  timorous  hare  limps  forth  to  feed  ; 

Then  be  the  time  to  steal  adown  the  vale, 

And  listen  to  the  vagrant 2  cuckoo's  tale  ; 

To  hear  the  clamorous  3  curlew  call  his  mate, 

Or  the  soft  quail  his  tender  pain  relate ; 

To  see  the  swallow  sweep  the  dark'ning  plain 

Belated,  to  support  her  infant  train  ; 

To  mark  the  swift  in  rapid  giddy  ring 

Dash  round  the  steeple,  unsubdu'd  of  wing  : 

Amusive  birds  ! — say  where  your  hid  retreat 

When  the  frost  rages  and  the  tempests  beat ; 

Whence  your  return,  by  such  nice  instinct  led, 

When  spring,  soft  season,  lifts  her  bloomy  head  ? 

Such  baffled  searches  mock  man's  prying  pride, 

The  GOD  of  NATURE  is  your  secret  guide  ! 

have  found  in  land-bridges,  even  between  distant  continents,  and  how  seldom 
a  land-bridge  will  bear  the  weight  of  any  other  foot  than  that  of  the  speculator  who 
made  it,  will  share  White's  distrust.  We  now  expect  the  constructor  of  land- 
bridges  to  attend  to  distances  and  soundings,  and  to  bear  in  mind  the  great 
stability  of  the  larger  land-masses.  Practical  identity  of  flora  and  fauna  on  both 
sides  of  a  strait  may  prove  former  land-connection,  but  it  is  a  very  different  thing 
to  infer  such  connection  from  the  occurrence  of  a  few  species,  even  though  closely 
allied,  in  widely  distant  lands.] 

1The  angler's  may-fly,  the  ephemera  vulgata,  Linn.,  comes  forth  from  it's 
aurelia  state,  and  emerges  out  of  the  water  about  six  in  the  evening,  and  dies 
about  eleven  at  night,  determining  the  date  of  it's  fly  state  in  about  five  or  six 
hours.  They  usually  begin  to  appear  about  the  4th  of  June,  and  continue  in 
succession  for  near  a  fortnight.  See  Swammerdam,  Derham,  Scopoli,  &>c. 

2  Vagrant  cuckoo ;    so  called  because,  being  tied   down  by   no  incubation  or 
attendance  about  the  nutrition  of  it's  young,  it  wanders  without  control. 

3  Charadrius  oedicnemus. 


OF  SELBORNE  57 

While  deep'ning  shades  obscure  the  face  of  day 

To  yonder  bench  leaf-shelter' d,  let  us  stray, 

Till  blended  objects  fail  the  swimming  sight, 

And  all  the  fading  landscape  sinks  in  night ; 

To  hear  the  drowsy  dor  come  brushing  by 

With  buzzing  wing,  or  the  shrill l  cricket  cry ; 

To  see  the  feeding  bat  glance  through  the  wood  ; 

To  catch  the  distant  falling  of  the  flood ; 

While  o'er  the  cliff  th'  awaken'd  churn-owl  hung 

Through  the  still  gloom  protracts  his  chattering  song ; 

While  high  in  air,  and  pois'd  upon  his  wings, 

Unseen,  the  soft  enamour' d  2  woodlark  sings  : 

These,  NATURE'S  works,  the  curious  mind  employ, 

Inspire  a  soothing  melancholy  joy : 

As  fancy  warms,  a  pleasing  kind  of  pain 

Steals  o'er  the  cheek,  and  thrills  the  creeping  vein ! 

Each  rural  sight,  each  sound,  each  smell,  combine  ; 

The  tinkling  sheep-bell,  or  the  breath  of  kine  ; 

The  new-mown  hay  that  scents  the  swelling  breeze, 

Or  cottage-chimney  smoking  through  the  trees. 

The  chilling  night-dews  fall : — away,  retire  ; 

For  see,  the  glow-worm  lights  her  amorous  fire  ! 3 

1  Gryllus  campestris. 

2  In  hot  summer  nights  woodlarks  soar  to  a  prodigious  height  and  hang  sing- 
ing in  the  air. 

3  The  light  of  the  female  glow-worm  (as  she  often  crawls  up  the  stalk  of  a  grass 
to  make  herself  more  conspicuous)  is  a  signal  to  the  male,  which  is  a  slender  dusky 
scarabceus. 

\Lampyris  noctiluca,  L. 

"  The  use  of  the  bright  light  of  the  female  glow-worm  has  been  subject  to  much 
discussion.  The  male  is  feebly  luminous,  as  are  the  larvae  and  even  the  eggs.  It 
has  been  supposed  by  some  authors  that  the  light  serves  to  frighten  away  enemies, 
and  by  others  to  guide  the  male  to  the  female.  At  last,  Mr.  Belt  ( The  Naturalist 
in  Nicaragua,  1874,  pp.  316-320)  appears  to  have  solved  the  difficulty :  he  finds 
that  all  the  Lampyridce  which  he  has  tried  are  highly  distasteful  to  insectivorous 
mammals  and  birds.  Hence  it  is  in  accordance  with  Mr.  Bates'  view,  hereafter  to 
be  explained,  that  many  insects  mimic  the  Lampyridce  closely,  in  order  to  be  mis- 
taken for  them,  and  thus  to  escape  destruction.  He  further  believes  that  the 
luminous  species  profit  by  being  at  once  recognised  as  unpalatable.  It  is  probable 
that  the  same  explanation  may  be  extended  to  the  Elaters,  both  sexes  of  which  are 
highly  luminous.  It  is  not  known  why  the  wings  of  the  female  glow-worm  have  not 
been  developed ;  but  in  her  present  state  she  closely  resembles  a  larva,  and  as 
larvae  are  so  largely  preyed  on  by  many  animals,  we  can  understand  why  she  has 
been  rendered  so  much  more  luminous  and  conspicuous  than  the  male  ;  and  why 
the  larvae  themselves  are  likewise  luminous"  (Darwin,  Descent  of  Man,  chap.  x. ). 

In  the  glow-worm  and  some  other  Lampyridce  the  female  resembles  a  larva, 
while  the  male  is  fully  winged  ;  in  these  the  eyes  of  the  male  are  much  larger  than 
those  of  the  female.  In  the  majority  of  the  species,  however,  the  wings  are  well 


58  THE  NATURAL  HISTOEY 

Thus,  e'er  night's  veil  had  half  obscur'd  the  sky, 
Th'  impatient  damsel  hung  her  lamp  on  high  : 
True  to  the  signal,  by  love's  meteor  led, 
Leander  hasten'd  to  his  Hero's  bed.1 

I  am,  &c. 

LETTER  XXV. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  Aug.  30,  1769. 
DEAR  SIR, 

IT  gives  me  satisfaction  to  find  that  my  account  of  the  ousel 
migration  pleases  you.  You  put  a  very  shrewd  question  when  you 
ask  me  how  I  know  that  their  autumnal  migration  is  southward  ? 
Was  not  candour  and  openness  the  very  life  of  natural  history,  I 
should  pass  over  this  query  just  as  a  sly  commentator  does  over  a 
crabbed  passage  in  a  classic  ;  but  common  ingenuousness  obliges 
me  to  confess,  not  without  some  degree  of  shame,  that  I  only 
reasoned  in  that  case  from  analogy.  For  as  all  other  autumnal 
birds  migrate  from  the  northward  to  us,  to  partake  of  our  milder 
winters,  and  return  to  the  northward  again  when  the  rigorous 
cold  abates,  so  I  concluded  that  the  ring-ousels  did  the  same,  as 
well  as  their  congeners  the  fieldfares ;  and  especially  as  ring- 
developed  in  both  sexes,  and  there  is  little  difference  in  the  eyes.  This  fact  seems 
to  indicate  that  the  perception  of  the  light  by  the  male  is  of  importance  to  the 
species. 

The  light  is  emitted  from  the  ventral  surface  of  the  6th,  7th  and  8th  ventral  seg- 
ments, more  particularly  from  the  6th  and  7th.  It  proceeds  from  a  yellowish  fatty 
substance,  which  shines  through  the  transparent  skin.  Moderate  stimulation  in- 
creases the  emission  of  light,  but  anything  which  alarms  the  insect  diminishes  or 
extinguishes  it,  and  captured  glow-worms  often  cease  to  shine.  The  light  is  inter- 
mittent, flashes  succeeding  one  another  rapidly  (80-100  in  the  minute).  In  the 
Observations  (p.  344)  White  says  that  they  put  out  their  lamps  between  eleven  and 
twelve,  and  shine  no  more  that  night.  This  is  not  always  the  case  ;  we  have  seen 
them  shine  long  after  midnight.  The  light  in  both  sexes  is  quenched  after  pairing, 
but  the  female  glows  again  during  egg-laying.  The  luminous  segments  glow  when 
removed  from  the  body  ;  in  oxygen  they  are  said  to  become  more  luminous,  and  to 
go  out  in  carbonic  acid,  hydrogen,  sulphurous  acid  or  in  a  vacuum.  The  lumini- 
ferous  substance  is  fatty,  and  contains  no  phosphorus. 

Glow-worms  usually  keep  close  by  day,  but  climb  up  stems  or  low  shrubs  at 
night.  The  larvae  are  carnivorous,  feeding  upon  small  molluscs,  dead  or  alive. 
The  adults  feed  upon  plants,  or,  as  appears  to  be  the  case  with  the  males,  not  at 
all. 

In  the  fire-flies  (Luciola)  of  Southern  Europe  it  is  the  gregarious  males  that 
shine  ;  they  possess  large  eyes,  while  the  non-luminous  female  has  small  ones.  The 
fire-flies  of  tropical  America  belong  to  a  different  family  of  beetles  (Elaters).~\ 

1  See  the  story  of  Hero  and  Leander, 


OF  SELBORNE  59 

ousels  are  known  to  haunt  cold  mountainous  countries :  but  I 
have  good  reason  to  suspect  since  that  they  may  come  to  us  from 
the  westward ;  because  I  hear,  from  very  good  authority,  that 
they  breed  on  Dartmore ;  and  that  they  forsake  that  wild  dis- 
trict about  the  time  that  our  visitors  appear,  and  do  not  return  till 
late  in  the  spring. 

I  have  taken  a  great  deal  of  pains  about  your  salicaria  and 
mine,  with  a  white  stroke  over  it's  eye  and  a  tawny  rump.1  I 
have  surveyed  it  alive  and  dead,  and  have  procured  several  speci- 
mens ;  and  am  perfectly  persuaded  myself  (and  trust  you  will 
soon  be  convinced  of  the  same)  that  it  is  no  more  nor  less  than 
the  passer  arundinaceus  minor  of  Ray.  This  bird,  by  some  means 
or  other,  seems  to  be  entirely  omitted  in  the  British  Zoology  ;  and 
one  reason  probably  was  because  it  is  so  strangely  classed  in  Ray, 
who  ranges  it  among  his  picis  affines.  It  ought  no  doubt  to  have 
gone  among  his  aviculce  caudd  unicolore,  and  among  your  slender- 
billed  small  birds  of  the  same  division.  Linnceus  might  with  great 
propriety  have  put  it  into  his  genus  of  motacilla ;  and  the 
motacilla  salicaria  of  his  fauna  suecica  seems  to  come  the  nearest 
to  it.  It  is  no  uncommon  bird,  haunting  the  sides  of  ponds  and 
rivers  where  there  is  covert,  and  the  reeds  and  sedges  of  moors. 
The  country  people  in  some  places  call  it  the  sedge-bird.  It  sings 
incessantly  night  and  day  during  the  breeding-time,  imitating  the 
note  of  a  sparrow,  a  swallow,  a  sky-lark ;  and  has  a  strange 
hurrying  manner  in  it's  song.  My  specimens  correspond  most 
minutely  to  the  description  of  your  Jen  salicaria  shot  near  Revesby. 
Mr.  Ray  has  given  an  excellent  characteristic  of  it  when  he  says, 
"  Rostrum  fy  pedes  in  hoc  aviculd  mulib  majores  sunt  quam  pro  corporis 
ratione  ".  See  letter  May  29,  176.9.  [Letter  XXIV.] 

I  have  got  you  the  egg  of  an  oedicnemus,  or  stone-curlew,  which 
was  picked  up  in  a  fallow  on  the  naked  ground  :  there  were  two  ; 
but  the  finder  inadvertently  crushed  one  with  his  foot  before  he 
saw  them. 

When  I  wrote  to  you  last  year  on  reptiles,  I  wish  I  had  not 
forgot  to  mention  the  faculty  that  snakes  have  of  stinking  se 
defendendo.  I  knew  a  gentleman  who  kept  a  tame  snake,  which 
was  in  it's  person  as  sweet  as  any  animal  while  in  good  humour 
and  unalarmed  ;  but  as  soon  as  a  stranger,  or  a  dog  or  cat,  came 
in,  it  fell  to  hissing,  and  filled  the  room  with  such  nauseous  effluvia 
as  rendered  it  hardly  supportable.  Thus  the  squnck,  or  stonck, 

1  [The  sedge- warbler  (Acrocephalus phragmitis,  Bechst.).    See  preceding  letter.] 


60  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

of  Ray's  Synop.  Quadr.  is  an  innocuous  and  sweet  animal ;  but, 
when  pressed  hard  by  dogs  and  men,  it  can  eject  such  a  most 
pestilent  and  fetid  smell  and  excrement,  that  nothing  can  be 
more  horrible. 

A  gentleman  sent  me  lately  a  fine  specimen  of  the  lanius  minor 
cinerascens  cum  macula  in  scapulis  alba,  Raii  ;  l  which  is  a  bird  that, 
at  the  time  of  your  publishing  your  two  first  volumes  of  British 
Zoology,  I  find  you  had  not  seen.  You  have  described  it  well 
from  Edwards' s  drawing. 


LETTER  XXVI. 


DEAR  SIR, 


TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  December  8,  1769. 


I  WAS  much  gratified  by  your  communicative  letter  on  your  return 
from  Scotland,  where  you  spent,  I  find,  some  considerable  time, 
and  gave  yourself  good  room  to  examine  the  natural  curiosities  of 
that  extensive  kingdom,  both  those  of  the  islands,  as  well  as  those 
of  the  highlands.  The  usual  bane  of  such  expeditions  is  hurry ; 
because  men  seldom  allot  themselves  half  the  time  they  should 
do :  but,  fixing  on  a  day  for  their  return,  post  from  place  to 
place,  rather  as  if  they  were  on  a  journey  that  required  dispatch, 
than  as  philosophers  investigating  the  works  of  nature.  You 
must  have  made,  no  doubt,  many  discoveries,  and  laid  up  a  good 
fund  of  materials  for  a  future  edition  of  the  British  Zoology  ;  and 
will  have  no  reason  to  repent  that  you  have  bestowed  so  much  pains 
on  a  part  of  Great-Britain  that  perhaps  was  never  so  well  examined 
before. 

It  has  always  been  matter  of  wonder  to  me  that  fieldfares, 
which  are  so  congenerous  to  thrushes  and  blackbirds,  should 
never  chuse  to  breed  in  England  :  but  that  they  should  not  think 
even  the  highlands  cold  and  northerly,  and  sequestered  enough, 
is  a  circumstance  still  more  strange  and  wonderful.  The  ring- 
ousel,  you  find,  stays  in  Scotland  the  whole  year  round ;  so  that 
we  have  reason  to  conclude  that  those  migrators  that  visit  us  for 
a  short  space  every  autumn  do  not  come  from  thence. 

And  here,  I  think,  will  be  the  proper  place  to  mention  that 

1  [Probably  the  woodchat  shrike  (Lanius  pomeranus,  Sparrm.),  but  it  is  curious 
that  White  does  not  mention  the  red  crown  and  nape  of  this  beautiful  bird.] 


OF  SELBORNE  61 

those  birds  were  most  punctual  again  in  their  migration  this 
autumn,  appearing,  as  before,  about  the  30th  of  September :  but 
their  flocks  were  larger  than  common,  and  their  stay  protracted 
somewhat  beyond  the  usual  time.  If  they  came  to  spend  the 
whole  winter  with  us,  as  some  of  their  congeners  do,  and  then 
left  us,  as  they  do,  in  spring,  I  should  not  be  so  much  struck  with 
the  occurrence,  since  it  would  be  similar  to  that  of  the  other 
winter  birds  of  passage  ;  but  when  I  see  them  for  a  fortnight  at 
Michaelmas,  and  again  for  about  a  week  in  the  middle  of  April,  I 
am  seized  with  wonder,  and  long  to  be  informed  whence  these 
travellers  come,  and  whither  they  go,  since  they  seem  to  use  our 
hills  merely  as  an  inn  or  baiting  place. 

Your  account  of  the  greater  brambling,  or  snow-fleck,1  is  very 
amusing ;  and  strange  it  is  that  such  a  short-winged  bird  should 
delight  in  such  perilous  voyages  over  the  northern  ocean  !  Some 
country  people  in  the  winter  time  have  every  now  and  then  told 
me  that  they  have  seen  two  or  three  white  larks  on  our  downs ; 
but,  on  considering  the  matter,  I  begin  to  suspect  that  these  are 
some  stragglers  of  the  birds  we  are  talking  of,  which  sometimes 
perhaps  may  rove  so  far  to  the  southward. 

It  pleases  me  to  find  that  white  hares  are  so  frequent  on  the 
Scottish  mountains,  and  especially  as  you  inform  me  that  it  is  a 
distinct  species ;  for  the  quadrupeds  of  Britain  are  so  few,  that 
every  new  species  is  a  great  acquisition.2 

The  eagle-owl,3  could  it  be  proved  to  belong  to  us,  is  so  ma- 
jestic a  bird,  that  it  would  jgrace  our  fauna  much.  I  never  was 
informed  before  where  wild-geese  are  known  to  breed. 

You  admit,  I  find,  that  I  have  proved  your  fen  salicaria  to  be 
the  lesser  reed-sparrow  of  Ray  :  and  I  think  that  you  may  be 
secure  that  I  am  right ;  for  I  took  very  particular  pains  to  clear 

x[The  snow-bunting  (Emberiza  nivalis,  L.),  a  species  which  visits  the  south  of 
England  every  hard  winter,  and  is  often  described  by  country  people  as  a  white 
lark.] 

2  [In  Russia,  Scandinavia  and  Iceland  our  common  hare  (Lepus  timidus,  L. )  is 
replaced  by  the  blue  or  mountain  hare  (L.  variabilis,  Pall.),  which  occurs  in 
Scotland  and  Ireland  also.  The  mountain  hare  is  characteristic  of  arctic  and 
alpine  regions  in  the  old  world.  It  is  structurally  distinguished  by  the  shortness  of 
the  ears.  In  winter  the  fur  changes  to  white,  except  at  the  tips  of  the  ears.  In 
Scotland  the  change  is  often  only  partial,  and  in  Ireland  it  does  not  occur  at  all,  a 
difference  which  led  Yarrell  to  regard  the  Irish  hare  as  a  distinct  species  {L.  hiber- 
nicus}.  The  polar  hare  (L.  glacialis)  is  not,  so  far  as  is  known,  structurally 
different  from  L.  variabilis.  It  is  white  all  the  year  round,  and  produces  more 
young  in  a  litter,  seven  or  eight  instead  of  four  or  five.] 

'A[Bubo  ignavus,  Forst.,  an  occasional  migrant  to  the  Orkneys,  Shetlands,  and 
northern  Scotland.] 


62  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

up  that  matter,  and  had  some  fair  specimens ;  but,  as  they  were 
not  well  preserved,  they  are  decayed  already.  You  will,  no  doubt, 
insert  it  in  it's  proper  place  in  your  next  edition.  Your  additional 
plates  will  much  improve  your  work. 

De  Bujfon,  I  know,  has  described  the  water  shrew-mouse :  but 
still  I  am  pleased  to  find  you  have  discovered  it  in  Lincolnshire, 
for  the  reason  I  have  given  in  the  article  on  the  white  hare.1 

As  a  neighbour  was  lately  plowing  in  a  dry  chalky  field,  far 
removed  from  any  water,  he  turned  out  a  water-rat,  that  was 
curiously  laid  up  in  an  hybernaculum  artificially  formed  of  grass 
and  leaves.  At  one  end  of  the  burrow  lay  above  a  gallon  of 
potatoes  regularly  stowed,  on  which  it  was  to  have  supported 
itself  for  the  winter.  But  the  difficulty  with  me  is  how  this 
amphibius  mus  came  to  fix  it's  winter  station  at  such  a  distance 
from  the  water.  Was  it  determined  in  it's  choice  of  that  place 
by  the  mere  accident  of  finding  the  potatoes  which  were  planted 
there ;  or  is  it  the  constant  practice  of  the  aquatic-rat  to  forsake 
the  neighbourhood  of  the  water  in  the  colder  months  ? 

Though  I  delight  very  little  in  analogous  reasoning,  knowing 
how  fallacious  it  is  with  respect  to  natural  history ;  yet,  in  the 
following  instance,  I  cannot  help  being  inclined  to  think  it  may 
conduce  towards  the  explanation  of  a  difficulty  that  I  have  men- 
tioned before,  with  respect  to  the  invariable  early  retreat  of  the 
hirundo  apus,  or  swift,  so  many  weeks  before  its  congeners  ;  and 
that  not  only  with  us,  but  also  in  Andalusia,  where  they  also  begin 
to  retire  about  the  beginning  of  August. 

The  great  large  bat2  (which  by  the  by  is  at  present  a  non- 
descript in  England,  and  what  I  have  never  been  able  yet  to  pro- 
cure) retires  or  migrates  very  early  in  the  summer :  it  also  ranges 
very  high  for  it's  food,  feeding  in  a  different  region  of  the  air ; 
and  that  is  the  reason  I  never  could  procure  one.  Now  this  is 
exactly  the  case  with  the  swifts  ;  for  they  take  their  food  in  a 
more  exalted  region  than  the  other  species,  and  are  very  seldom 
seen  hawking  for  flies  near  the  ground,  or  over  the  surface  of  the 

1  [Some  years  since  I  observed  the  water-shrew  (Crossopus fodiens]  in  the  stream 
which  passes  in  front  of  the  Grange  Farm  in  Selborne.     It  was  hunting  at  the 
bottom  of  the  water  among  the  aquatic  plants  for  insects,  and  was  so  flattened  that 
the  white  of  the  belly  was  conspicuous  as  a  narrow  margin  on  each  side  of  the  black 
back,  forming  a  striking  and  pretty  object.     I  found  also  in  my  garden  a  specimen, 
recently  killed,  of  the  black-bellied  variety,  formerly  known  as  Sorex  remifer.     It 
was  far  from  any  water. — Bell^\ 

2  The  little  bat  appears  almost  every  month  in  the  year ;  but  I  have  never  seen 
the  large  ones  till  the  end  of  April,  nor  after  July.     They  are  most  common  in  June, 
but  never  in  any  plenty  :  are  a  rare  species  with  us. 


OF  SELBORNE  63 

water.  From  hence  I  would  conclude  that  these  hirundines,  and 
the  larger  bats,  are  supported  by  some  sorts  of  high-flying  gnats, 
scarabs,  or  phalcence,  that  are  of  short  continuance ;  and  that  the 
short  stay  of  these  strangers  is  regulated  by  the  defect  of  their 
food. 

By  my  journal  it  appears  that  curlews  l  clamoured  on  to  October 
the  thirty-first ;  since  which  I  have  not  seen  or  heard  any. 
Swallows  were  observed  on  to  November  the  third. 


LETTER  XXVII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  Feb.  22,  1770. 


DEAR  SIR, 


HEDGE-HOGS  abound  in  my  gardens  and  fields.  The  manner  in 
which  they  eat  their  roots  of  the  plantain  in  my  grass-walks  is 
very  curious  :  with  their  upper  mandible,  which  is  much  longer 
than  their  lower,  they  bore  under  the  plant,  and  so  eat  the  root 
off  upwards,  leaving  the  tuft  of  leaves  untouched.2  In  this  respect 
they  are  serviceable,  as  they  destroy  a  very  troublesome  weed ; 
but  they  deface  the  walks  in  some  measure  by  digging  little 
round  holes.  It  appears,  by  the  dung  that  they  drop  upon  the 
turf,  that  beetles  are  no  inconsiderable  part  of  their  food.  In 
June  last  I  procured  a  litter  of  four  or  five  young  hedge-hogs, 
which  appeared  to  be  about  five  or  six  days  old  ;  they,  I  find,  like 
puppies,  are  born  blind,  and  could  not  see  when  they  came  to  my 
hands.  No  doubt  their  spines  are  soft  and  flexible  at  the  time  of 
their  birth,  or  else  the  poor  dam  would  have  but  a  bad  time  of  it 
in  the  critical  moment  of  parturition  :  but  it  is  plain  that  they 
soon  harden ;  for  these  little  pigs  had  such  stiff  prickles  on  their 
backs  and  sides  as  would  easily  have  fetched  blood,  had  they  not 
been  handled  with  caution.  Their  spines  are  quite  white  at  this 

1["  Curlew"  is  always  used  by  White  for  stone  curlew.     The  common  curlew 


.  saw  some 

,  _,  the  side  of 

each  I  found  the  hole  bored,  as  White  supposed,  by  the  long  upper  mandible  of 
1  Hoggy,'  but  it  was  scarcely  big  enough  to  admit  a  lead  pencil,  and  so  round  and 
smooth  that  I  said  directly  to  myself,  '  'Tis  the  burrow  of  a  night-eating  caterpillar '. 
I  got  a  trowel  and  in  a  trice  the  fellow  was  unearthed  ;  and  he  afterwards  turned  to 
a  '  ghost-moth'  or  'yellow  underwing,'  I  cannot  say  which,  for  both  came  out  in 
one  cage." — Quoted  from  Harting's  ed.] 


64  THE  NATUEAL  HISTORY 

age  ;  and  they  have  little  hanging  ears,  which  I  do  not  remember 
to  be  discernible  in  the  old  ones.  They  can,  in  part,  at  this  age 
draw  their  skin  down  over  their  faces  ;  but  are  not  able  to  con- 
tract themselves  into  a  ball,  as  they  do,  for  the  sake  of  defence, 
when  full  grown.  The  reason,  I  suppose,  is,  because  the  curious 
muscle  that  enables  the  creature  to  roll  itself  up  in  a  ball  was  not 
then  arrived  at  it's  full  tone  and  firmness.1  Hedge-hogs  make  a 
deep  and  warm  hybernaculum  with  leaves  and  moss,  in  which  they 
conceal  themselves  for  the  winter  :  but  I  never  could  find  that 
they  stored  in  any  winter  provision,  as  some  quadrupeds  certainly 
do. 

I  have  discovered  an  anecdote  2  with  respect  to  the  fieldfare 
(turdus  pilaris],  which  I  think  is  particular  enough  : 3  this  bird, 
though  it  sits  on  trees  in  the  day-time,  and  procures  the  greatest 
part  of  it's  food  from  white-thorn  hedges  ;  yea,  moreover,  builds 
on  very  high  trees ;  as  may  be  seen  by  the  fauna  suecica ;  yet 
always  appears  with  us  to  roost  on  the  ground.  They  are  seen  to 
come  in  flocks  just  before  it  is  dark,  and  to  settle  and  nestle 
among  the  heath  on  our  forest.  And  besides,  the  larkers,  in 
dragging  their  nets  by  night,  frequently  catch  them  in  the  wheat- 
stubbles  ;  while  the  bat-fowlers,  who  take  many  red-wings  in  the 
hedges,  never  entangle  any  of  this  species.  Why  these  birds,  in 
the  matter  of  roosting,  should  differ  from  all  their  congeners,  and 
from  themselves  also  with  respect  to  their  proceedings  by  day,  is 
a  fact  for  which  I  am  by  110  means  able  to  account. 

I  have  somewhat  to  inform  you  of  concerning  the  moose-deer  ; 
but  in  general  foreign  animals  fall  seldom  in  my  way  :  my  little 
intelligence  is  confined  to  the  narrow  sphere  of  my  own  observa- 
tions at  home. 

1  [There  is  one  use  of  the  hedgehog's  armour  which  I  have  never  seen  mentioned, 
but  which  I  had  repeated  opportunities  of  verifying  in  one  which  I  kept  myself. 
Running  about  a  small  yard  at  the  back  of  the  house,  which  overhung  an  area,  it 
would  go  to  the  very  edge ;  and  looking  over  as  if  to  ascertain  if  the  descent  were  safe, 
it  would  roll  up  into  a  ball  in  the  very  act  of  throwing  itself  down ;  and,  falling 
upon  its  elastic  spines,  it  would,  in  a  few  seconds  after  alighting  upon  the  stones, 
open  and  run  off,  wholly  unhurt  by  this  voluntary  fall  of  at  least  ten  feet. — Bell.~\ 

2  [Here  and  elsewhere  in  the  Letters  Gilbert  White  uses  the  word  anecdote  in  the 
original  sense  of  a  piece  of  unpublished  information.     Thus  in  a  letter  to  his  brother 
John  he  says  :  "  Be  so  good  as  not  to  forestall  my  cobweb-shower.     I  wish  I  had 
two  or  three  dozen  more  of  such  anecdotes."     The  word  was  of  recent  introduction 
(from  the  French)  at  this  time.] 

3["  Particular,"  i.e.,  noteworthy.  The  fieldfare  is  not  averse  to  nesting  as  well 
as  roosting  on  the  ground  where  trees  are  scarce  or  absent,  and  certainly  does  not 
affect  "  very  high  trees"  in  the  extreme  north  of  Scandinavia,  but  rather  birches, 
alders,  etc.] 


OF  SELBORNE  65 


LETTER  XXVIII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 


Selborne,  March,  1770. 


ON  Michaelmas-day  1768  I  managed  to  get  a  sight  of  the  female 
moose  belonging  to  the  duke  of  Richmond,  at  Goodwood ;  but 
was  greatly  disappointed,  when  I  arrived  at  the  spot,  to  find  that 
it  died,  after  having  appeared  in  a  languishing  way  for  some 
time,  on  the  morning  before.  However,  understanding  that  it 
was  not  stripped,  I  proceeded  to  examine  this  rare  quadruped :  I 
found  it  in  an  old  green-house,  slung  under  the  belly  and  chin  by 
ropes,  and  in  a  standing  posture  ;  but,  though  it  had  been  dead 
for  so  short  a  time,  it  was  in  so  putrid  a  state  that  the  stench  was 
hardly  supportable.  The  grand  distinction  between  this  deer, 
and  any  other  species  that  I  have  ever  met  with,  consisted  in  the 
strange  length  of  it's  legs  ;  on  which  it  was  tilted  up  much  in  the 
manner  of  the  birds  of  the  gralla  order.  I  measured  it,  as  they 
do  an  horse,  and  found  that,  from  the  ground  to  the  wither,  it  was 
just  five  feet  four  inches  ;  which  height  answers  exactly  to  sixteen 
hands,  a  growth  that  few  horses  arrive  at :  but  then,  with  this 
length  of  legs,  it's  neck  was  remarkably  short,  no  more  than 
twelve  inches  ;  so  that,  by  straddling  with  one  foot  forward  and 
the  other  backward,  it  grazed  on  the  plain  ground,  with  the 
greatest  difficulty,  between  it's  legs  :  the  ears  were  vast  and 
lopping,  and  as  long  as  the  neck ;  the  head  was  about  twenty 
inches  long,  and  ass-like ;  and  had  such  a  redundancy  of  upper 
lip  as  I  never  saw  before,  with  huge  nostrils.  This  lip,  travellers 
say,  is  esteemed  a  dainty  dish  in  North  America.  It  is  very 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  this  creature  supports  itself  chiefly 
by  browsing  of  trees,  and  by  wading  after  water  plants  ;  towards 
which  way  of  livelihood  the  length  of  legs  and  great  lip  must 
contribute  much.  I  have  read  somewhere  that  it  delights  in 
eating  the  nymphaza,  or  water-lily.  From  the  fore-feet  to  the  belly 
behind  the  shoulder  it  measured  three  feet  and  eight  inches  :  the 
length  of  the  legs  before  and  behind  consisted  a  great  deal  in  the 
tibia,  which  was  strangely  long ;  but,  in  my  haste  to  get  out  of 
the  stench,  I  forgot  to  measure  that  joint  exactly.  It's  scut 
seemed  to  be  about  an  inch  long  ;  the  colour  was  a  grizzly  black  ; 
the  mane  about  four  inches  long ;  the  fore-hoofs  were  upright 
and  shapely,  the  hind  flat  and  splayed.  The  spring  before  it  was 
5 


66  THE  NATUEAL  HISTORY 

only  two  years  old,  so  that  most  probably  it  was  not  then  come  to 
it's  growth.  What  a  vast  tall  beast  must  a  full  grown  stag  be  ! 
I  have  been  told  some  arrive  at  ten  feet  and  an  half !  This  poor 
creature  had  at  first  a  female  companion  of  the  same  species,  which 
died  the  spring  before.  In  the  same  garden  was  a  young  stag, 
or  red  deer,  between  whom  and  this  moose  it  was  hoped  that 
there  might  have  been  a  breed ;  but  their  inequality  of  height 
must  have  always  been  a  bar  to  any  commerce  of  the  amorous 
kind.  I  should  have  been  glad  to  have  examined  the  teeth, 
tongue,  lips,  hoofs,  etc.,  minutely  ;  but  the  putrefaction  precluded 
all  further  curiosity.  This  animal,  the  keeper  told  me,  seemed 
to  enjoy  itself  best  in  the  extreme  frost  of  the  former  winter.  In 
the  house  they  showed  me  the  horn  of  a  male  moose,  which  had 
no  front-antlers,  but  only  a  broad  palm  with  some  snags  on  the 
edge.  The  noble  owner  of  the  dead  moose  proposed  to  make  a 
skeleton  of  her  bones. 

Please  to  let  me  hear  if  my  female  moose  corresponds  with  that 
you  saw ;  and  whether  you  think  still  that  the  American  moose 
and  European  elk  are  the  same  creature.1  I  am, 

With  the  greatest  esteem,  etc. 


LETTER  XXIX.2 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  May  12,  1770. 
DEAR  SIR, 

LAST  month  we  had  such  a  series  of  cold  turbulent  weather,  such 
a  constant  succession  of  frost,  and  snow,  and  hail,  and  tempest, 
that  the  regular  migration  or  appearance  of  the  summer  birds 

1  [The  American  moose  is  probably  identical  with  the  European  elk,  though 
some  naturalists  have  attempted  to  distinguish  the  species  by  slight  differences  in 
the  horns. 

2  [In  the  original  letter  sent  to  Pennant,  but  not  retained  in  the  copy  sent  to 
the  press,  is  the  following  paragraph,  which  appeared  to  me  to  be  quite  worth 
preserving. 

"  Though  you  are  embarked  in  a  more  extensive  plan  of  natural  history,  yet  I 
am  glad  to  find  that  you  do  by  no  means  give  up  the  Brit.  Zoology.  That,  I  think, 
should  be  your  principal  object ;  and  I  hope  you  will  continue  to  revise  it  at  your 
leisure,  and  to  retouch  it  until  you  have  made  it  as  perfect  as  the  nature  of  the 
work  will  admit  of.  If  people  who  live  in  the  country  would  take  a  little  pains, 
daily  observations  might  be  made  with  respect  to  animals,  and  particularly  regarding 
their  life  and  conversation,  their  actions  and  economy,  which  are  the  life  and  soul 
of  natural  history,"— - 


OF  SELBORNE  67 

was  much  interrupted.  Some  did  not  shew  themselves  (at  least 
were  not  heard)  till  weeks  after  their  usual  time ;  as  the  black- 
cap and  white-throat ;  and  some  have  not  been  heard  yet,  as  the 
grasshopper-lark  and  largest  willow-wren.  As  to  the  fly-catcher,  I 
have  not  seen  it ;  it  is  indeed  one  of  the  latest,  but  should 
appear  about  this  time  :  and  yet,  amidst  all  this  meteorous  strife 
and  war  of  the  elements,  two  swallows  discovered  themselves  as 
long  ago  as  the  eleventh  of  April,  in  frost  and  snow ;  but  they 
withdrew  quickly,  and  were  not  visible  again  for  many  days. 
House-martins,  which  are  always  more  backward  than  swallows, 
were  not  observed  till  May  came  in. 

Among  the  monogamous  birds  several  are  to  be  found,  after 
pairing-time,  single,  and  of  each  sex  :  but  whether  this  state  of 
celibacy  is  matter  of  choice  or  necessity,  is  not  so  easily  discover- 
able. When  the  house-sparrows  deprive  my  martins  of  their 
nests,  as  soon  as  I  cause  one  to  be  shot,  the  other,  be  it  cock  or 
hen,  presently  procures  a  mate,  and  so  for  several  times  following.1 

I  have  known  a  dove-house  infested  by  a  pair  of  white  owls, 
which  made  great  havock  among  the  young  pigeons  :  one  of  the 
owls  was  shot  as  soon  as  possible ;  but  the  survivor  readily  found 
a  mate,  and  the  mischief  went  on.  After  some  time  the  new 
pair  were  both  destroyed,  and  the  annoyance  ceased.2 

Another  instance  I  remember  of  a  sportsman,  whose  zeal  for 
the  increase  of  his  game  being  greater  than  his  humanity,  after 
pairing-time  he  always  shot  the  cock-bird  of  every  couple  of 
partridges  upon  his  grounds  ;  supposing  that  the  rivalry  of  many 
males  interrupted  the  breed  :  he  used  to  say,  that,  though  he  had 
widowed  the  same  hen  several  times,  yet  he  found  she  was  still 
provided  with  a  fresh  paramour,  that  did  not  take  her  away  from 
her  usual  haunt. 

Again ;  I  knew  a  lover  of  setting,  an  old  sportsman,  who  has 

1  [This  paragraph  deserves  to  be  noted  as  a  good  example  of  White's  manner, 
at  once  terse  and  clear,  of  recording  the  results  of  long  and  accurate  observation. 
The  first  sentence  of  the  next  letter  seems  to  indicate  that  he  was  at  this  time 
taking  special  pains  to  be  brief,  from  annoyance  at  the  prolixity  of  French  writers ; 
and  indeed  he  almost  overdoes  it.     We  should  have  been  glad  of  more  facts,  both 
as  to  the  bachelor  birds  and  the  depredations  of  the  sparrows.     It  is  interesting, 
though  melancholy,  to  find  that  the  persecution  of  the  martins  by  house  sparrows 
has  been  going  on  for  at  least  a  hundred  and  thirty  years.] 

2  [Bell  refers  to  Waterton's  Essays  (ist  series,  p.  14),  where  this  charge  against 
the  barn  owl  is  repudiated.     It  is  of  course  not  impossible  that  an  individual  barn 
owl  may  take  a  fancy  to  young  pigeons  ;  but  the  regular  food  is  rats  and  mice,  and 
the  species  should  be  carefully  preserved.     See  some  valuable  facts  collected  by  Mr. 
Norgate,  in  Seebohm's  British  Birds,  vol  i.,  p.  149.] 


68  THE  NATURAL  HISTOEY 

often  told  me  that  soon  after  harvest  he  has  frequently  taken 
small  coveys  of  partridges,  consisting  of  cock-birds  alone ;  these 
he  pleasantly  used  to  call  old  bachelors. 

There  is  a  propensity  belonging  to  common  house-cats  that  is 
very  remarkable ;  I  mean  their  violent  fondness  for  fish,  which 
appears  to  be  their  most  favourite  food  :  and  yet  nature  in  this 
instance  seems  to  have  planted  in  them  an  appetite  that,  un- 
assisted, they  know  not  how  to  gratify  :  for  of  all  quadrupeds 
cats  are  the  least  disposed  towards  water ;  and  will  not,  when 
they  can  avoid  it,  deign  to  wet  a  foot,  much  less  to  plunge  into 
that  element. 

Quadrupeds  that  prey  on  fish  are  amphibious :  such  is  the 
otter,  which  by  nature  is  so  well  formed  for  diving,  that  it  makes 
great  havock  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  waters.  Not  supposing 
that  we  had  any  of  those  beasts  in  our  shallow  brooks,  I  was 
much  pleased  to  see  a  male  otter  brought  to  me,  weighing 
twenty-one  pounds,  that  had  been  shot  on  the  bank  of  our 
stream  below  the  Priory,  where  the  rivulet  divides  the  parish  of 
Sclborne  from  Harteley-wood. 


LETTER  XXX. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  Aug.  i,  1770. 
DEAR  SIR, 

THE  French,  I  think,  in  general  are  strangely  prolix  in  their 
natural  history.1  What  Linnceus  says  with  respect  to  insects 
holds  good  in  every  other  branch  :  "  Verbositas  prcesentls  sceculi, 
"  catamites  artis  ". 

Pray  how  do  you  approve  of  Scopoli's  new  work  ?  As  I  admire 
his  Entomologia,  I  long  to  see  it. 

I  forgot  to  mention  in  my  last  letter  (and  had  not  room  to 
insert  in  the  former)  that  the  male  moose,  in  rutting  time,  swims 
from  island  to  island,  in  the  lakes  and  rivers  of  North-America,  in 
pursuit  of  the  females.  My  friend,  the  chaplain,  saw  one  killed 

1  [In  a  letter  to  his  brother  John,  Jan.  25,  1771,  Gilbert  White  says  :  "Geoffroy 
no  doubt  is  too  verbose  ;  so  are  all  his  countrymen  " .  Besides  Geoffrey  he  may  have 
had  Reaumur  and  Buffon  in  his  mind.  White's  acquaintance  with  them  was 
probably  slight,  and  the  remark  seems  a  little  harsh  to  those  who  have  read  these 
naturalists,  and  especially  Reaumur,  with  never-ending  pleasure  and  profit.] 


OF  SELBOKNE  69 

in  the  water  as  it  was  on  that  errand  in  the  river  St.  Lawrence : 
it  was  a  monstrous  beast,  he  told  me ;  but  he  did  not  take  the 
dimensions. 

When  I  was  last  in  town  our  friend  Mr.  Barrington  most 
obligingly  carried  me  to  see  many  curious  sights.  As  you  were 
then  writing  to  him  about  horns,  he  carried  me  to  see  many 
strange  and  wonderful  specimens.  There  is,  I  remember,  at 
Lord  Pembroke's,  at  Wilton,  an  horn  room  furnished  with  more 
than  thirty  different  pairs  ;  but  I  have  not  seen  that  house  lately. 

Mr.  Barrington  shewed  me  many  astonishing  collections  of 
stuffed  and  living  birds  from  all  quarters  of  the  world.  After  I 
had  studied  over  the  latter  for  a  time,  I  remarked  that  every  species 
almost  that  came  from  distant  regions,  such  as  South  America, 
the  coast  of  Guinea,  &c.,  were  thick-billed  birds  of  the  loxia  and 
fringilla  genera ;  and  no  motacilUe,  or  muscicapve,  were  to  be  met 
with.  When  I  came  to  consider,  the  reason  was  obvious  enough  ; 
for  the  hard-billed  birds  subsist  on  seeds  which  are  easily  carried 
on  board ;  while  the  soft-billed  birds,  which  are  supported  by 
worms  and  insects,  or,  what  is  a  succedaneum  for  them,  fresh 
raw  meat,  can  meet  with  neither  in  long  and  tedious  voyages. 
It  is  from  this  defect  of  food  that  our  collections  (curious  as  they 
are)  are  defective,  and  we  are  deprived  of  some  of  the  most 
delicate  and  lively  genera.1 

I  am,  &c. 


LETTER  XXXI. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  Sept.  14,  1770. 
DEAR  SIR, 

You  saw,  I  find,  the  ring-ousels  again  among  their  native  crags  ; 
and  are  farther  assured  that  they  continue  resident  in  those  cold 
regions  the  whole  year.2  From  whence  then  do  our  ring-ousels 
migrate  so  regularly  every  September,  and  make  their  appearance 
again,  as  if  in  their  return,  every  April  ?  They  are  more  early 

1  [This  difficulty  has  of  course  been  since  overcome,  as  may  be  abundantly 
illustrated  in  the  Zoological  Gardens.] 

2  [See  Letter  XXII.  to  Pennant,  note.     Mr.  Harting  suggests  that  Pennant's 
informant  confused  the  ring-ouzel  and  the  water-ouzel  or  dipper.] 


70  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

this  year  than  common,  for  some  were  seen  at  the  usual  hill  on 
the  fourth  of  this  month. 

An  observing  Devonshire  gentleman  tells  me  that  they  frequent 
some  parts  of  Dartmoor,  and  breed  there  ;  but  leave  those  haunts 
about  the  end  of  September  or  beginning  of  October,  and  return 
again  about  the  end  of  March. 

Another  intelligent  person  assures  me  that  they  breed  in  great 
abundance  all  over  the  Peak  of  Derby,  and  are  called  there  Tor- 
ousels  ;  withdraw  in  October  and  November,  and  return  in  spring. 
This  information  seems  to  throw  some  light  on  my  new  migration. 

Scopoli's l  new  work  (which  I  have  just  procured)  has  it's  merit 
in  ascertaining  many  of  the  birds  of  the  Tirol  and  Carniola. 
Monographers,  come  from  whence  they  may,  have,  I  think,  fair 
pretence  to  challenge  some  regard  and  approbation  from  the 
lovers  of  natural  history ;  for,  as  no  man  can  alone  investigate  all 
the  works  of  nature,  these  partial  writers  may,  each  in  their 
department,  be  more  accurate  in  their  discoveries,  and  freer  from 
errors,  than  more  general  writers ;  and  so  by  degrees  may  pave 
the  way  to  an  universal  correct  natural  history.  Not  that  Scopoli 
is  so  circumstantial  and  attentive  to  the  life  and  conversation  of 
his  birds  as  I  could  wish  :  he  advances  some  false  facts  ;  as  when 
he  says  of  the  hirundo  urbica  that  "  pullos  extra  nidum  non  nutrit ". 
This  assertion  I  know  to  be  wrong  from  repeated  observation 
this  summer;  for  house-martins  do  feed  their  young  flying, 
though  it  must  be  acknowledged  not  so  commonly  as  the  house- 
swallow  ;  and  the  feat  is  done  in  so  quick  a  manner  as  not  to  be 
perceptible  to  indifferent  observers.  He  also  advances  some  (I 
was  going  to  say)  improbable  facts  ;  as  when  he  says  of  the 
woodcock  that  "pullos  rostro  portal  fugiens  ab  hoste".  But 
candour  forbids  me  to  say  absolutely  that  any  fact  is  false, 
because  I  have  never  been  witness  to  such  a  fact.  I  have  only 
to  remark  that  the  long  unwieldy  bill  of  the  woodcock  is  perhaps 
the  worst  adapted  of  any  among  the  winged  creation  for  such  a 
feat  of  natural  affection.'2 

I  am,  &c. 

1  Annus  Primus  Historico-Naturalis. 

2  [Prof.   Newton   contributed   the  following  succinct   note   to   Bell's  edition : 
' '  That  the  bill  assists  materially  in  carrying  off  and  particularly  in  steadying  the 
young  bird  while  being  carried  seems  to  be  established;    but  the  most  efficient 
instruments  are  the  parent's  thighs,  beneath  which  the  chick  is  grasped,  while  the 
head  and  bill  are  recurved  beneath  ".] 


OF  SELBORNE  71 


LETTER  XXXII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  October  29,  1770. 
DEAR  SIR, 

AFTER  an  ineffectual  search  in  Linnaeus,  Brisson,  &c.,  I  begin  to 
suspect  that  I  discern  my  brother's  hirundo  hyberna  in  Scopoli's 
new  discovered  hirundo  rupesttis,  p.  167.  His  description  of 
"  Supra  murina,  subtus  albida ;  rectrices  maculd  ovali  albd  in  latere 
"  interno ;  pedes  nudi,  ?iigri ;  rostrum  nigrum ;  remiges  obscuriores 
"  quam  plumes  dorsales  ;  rectrices  remigibus  concolores  ;  caudd  emar- 
"  ginald,  nee  forcipatd ; "  agrees  very  well  with  the  bird  in 
question :  but  when  he  comes  to  advance  that  it  is  "  statura 
"  hirundinis  urbicce,"  and  that  "  definitio  hirundinis  riparice  Linncei 
"hide  quoque  convenit,"  he  in  some  measure  invalidates  all  he 
has  said ;  at  least  he  shews  at  once  that  he  compares  them  to 
these  species  merely  from  memory :  for  I  have  compared  the 
birds  themselves,  and  find  they  differ  widely  in  every  circum- 
stance of  shape,  size,  and  colour.  However,  as  you  will  have  a 
specimen,  I  shall  be  glad  to  hear  what  your  judgment  is  in 
the  matter. 

Whether  my  brother  is  forestalled  in  his  non-descript  or  not, 
he  will  have  the  credit  of  first  discovering  that  they  spend  their 
winters  under  the  warm  and  sheltery  shores  of  Gibraltar  and 
Barbary. 

Scopoli's  characters  of  his  ordines  and  genera  are  clean,  just, 
and  expressive,  and  much  in  the  spirit  of  Linnaeus.  These  few 
remarks  are  the  result  of  my  first  perusal  of  Scopoli's  Annus 
Primus. 

The  bane  of  our  science  is  the  comparing  one  animal  to  the 
other  by  memory :  for  want  of  caution  in  this  particular  Scopoli 
falls  into  errors :  he  is  not  so  full  with  regard  to  the  manners  of 
his  indigenous  birds  as  might  be  wished,  as  you  justly  observe : 
his  Latin  is  easy,  elegant,  and  expressive,  and  very  superior  to 
Kramers.1 

I  am  pleased  to  see  that  my  description  of  the  moose  corre- 
sponds so  well  with  yours. 

I  am,  &c. 

1  See  his  Elenchvs  -vegetabilium  et  animalium  per  Austriam  inferiorem,  &c. 


72  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

LETTER  XXXIII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  Nov.  26,  1770. 
DEAR  SIR, 

I  WAS  much  pleased  to  see,  among  the  collection  of  birds  from 
Gibraltar,  some  of  those  short-winged  English  summer-birds  of 
passage,  concerning  whose  departure  we  have  made  so  much 
inquiry.  Now  if  these  birds  are  found  in  Andalusia  to  migrate 
to  and  from  Barbary,  it  may  easily  be  supposed  that  those  that 
come  to  us  may  migrate  back  to  the  continent,  and  spend  their 
winters  in  some  of  the  warmer  parts  of  Europe.  This  is  certain, 
that  many  soft-billed  birds  that  come  to  Gibraltar  appear  there 
only  in  spring  and  autumn,  seeming  to  advance  in  pairs  towards 
the  northward,  for  the  sake  of  breeding  during  the  summer 
months ;  and  retiring  in  parties  and  broods  toward  the  south 
at  the  decline  of  the  year :  so  that  the  rock  of  Gibraltar  is  the 
great  rendezvous,  and  place  of  observation,  from  whence  they 
take  their  departure  each  way  towards  Europe  or  Africa.1  It  is 
therefore  no  mean  discovery,  I  think,  to  find  that  our  small 
short-winged  summer  birds  of  passage  are  to  be  seen  spring 
and  autumn  on  the  very  skirts  of  Europe ;  it  is  a  presumptive 
proof  of  their  emigrations. 

Scopoli  seems  to  me  to  have  found  the  hirundo  melba,  the 
great  Gibraltar  swift,  in  Tirol,  without  knowing  it.2  For  what 
is  his  hirundo  alpina  but  the  afore-mentioned  bird  in  other  words  ? 
Says  he  "  Omnia  prioris  "  (meaning  the  swift)  (<  sed  pectus  album  ; 
paulo  major  priore  ".  I  do  not  suppose  this  to  be  a  new  species. 
It  is  true  also  of  the  melba,  that  "nidi/teat  in  excelsis  Alpium 
rupibus  ".  Vid.  Annum  Primum. 

My  Sussex  friend,  a  man  of  observation  and  good  sense,  but 
no  naturalist,  to  whom  I  applied  on  account  of  the  stone-curlew, 
oedicnemus,  sends  me  the  following  account :  "  In  looking  over 
"my  Naturalist's  Journal  for  the  month  of  April,  I  find  the 
"stone-curlews  are  first  mentioned  on  the  seventeenth  and  eigh- 
teenth, which  date  seems  to  me  rather  late.  They  live  with 

1  [Col.  Irby's  Ornithology  of  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar  has  recently  made  us 
fully  acquainted  with  migration  at  this  point.] 

*  [The  alpine  swift  (Cypselus  melba,  L. )  was  no  doubt  the  bird  described  by 
Scopoli,  with  white  breast  (pectus  album),  and  also  that  found  by  John  White  at 
Gibraltar.  See  Irby,  of.  cit.t  p.  214.] 


OF  SELBORNE  73 

"  us  all  the  spring  and  summer,  and  at  the  beginning  of  autumn 
"prepare  to  take  leave  by  getting  together  in  flocks.  They 
"  seem  to  me  a  bird  of  passage  that  may  travel  into  some  dry  hilly 
"  country  south  of  us,  probably  Spain,  because  of  the  abundance 
"  of  sheep-walks  in  that  country ;  for  they  spend  their  summers 
"with  us  in  such  districts.  This  conjecture  I  hazard,  as  I  have 
"never  met  with  any  one  that  has  seen  them  in  England  in  the 
"  winter.  I  believe  they  are  not  fond  of  going  near  the  water, 
( '  but  feed  on  earth-worms,  that  are  common  on  sheep-walks  and 
"  downs.  They  breed  on  fallows  and  lay-fields  abounding  with 
"  grey  mossy  flints,  which  much  resemble  their  young  in  colour ; 
"among  which  they  skulk  and  conceal  themselves.  They  make 
"no  nest,  but  lay  their  eggs  on  the  bare  ground,  producing  in 
"common  but  two  at  a  time.  There  is  reason  to  think  their 
"  young  run  soon  after  they  are  hatched  ;  and  that  the  old  ones 
"do  not  feed  them,  but  only  lead  them  about  at  the  time  of 
"  feeding,  which,  for  the  most  part,  is  in  the  night."  Thus  far 
my  friend. 

In  the  manners  of  this  bird  you  see  there  is  something  very 
analogous  to  the  bustard,  whom  it  also  somewhat  resembles  in 
aspect  and  make,  and  in  the  structure  of  it's  feet. 

For  a  long  time  I  have  desired  my  relation  to  look  out  for 
these  birds  in  Andalusia ;  and  now  he  writes  me  word  that,  for 
the  first  time,  he  saw  one  dead  in  the  market  on  the  3rd  of 
September. 

When  the  oedicnemus  flies  it  stretches  out  it's  legs  straight 
behind,  like  an  heron.1 

I  am,  &c. 


LETTER  XXXIV. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  March  30,  1771. 
DEAR  SIR, 

THERE  is  an  insect  with  us,  especially  on  chalky  districts, 
which  is  very  troublesome  and  teasing  all  the  latter  end  of 
the  summer,  getting  into  people's  skins,  especially  those  of 
women  and  children,  and  raising  tumours  which  itch  intolerably. 

1  [See  Letters  XVI.,  XXL,  XXXIII.  to  Pennant,  LIX.  to  Harrington,  and  the 
Observations  on  Nature.] 


74  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

This  animal  (which  we  call  an  harvest  bug)  is  very  minute,  scarce 
discernible  to  the  naked  eye  ;  of  a  bright  scarlet  colour,  and  of 
the  genus  of  Acarus.1  They  are  to  be  met  with  in  gardens  on 
kidney-beans,  or  any  legumens ;  but  prevail  only  in  the  hot 
months  of  summer.  Warreners,  as  some  have  assured  me,  are 
much  infested  by  them  on  chalky  downs  ;  where  these  insects 
swarm  sometimes  to  so  infinite  a  degree  as  to  discolour  their 
nets,  and  to  give  them  a  reddish  cast,  while  the  men  are  so 
bitten  as  to  be  thrown  into  fevers. 

There  is  a  small  long  shining  fly  in  these  parts  very  trouble- 
some to  the  housewife,  by  getting  into  the  chimnies,  and  laying 
it's  eggs  in  the  bacon  while  it  is  diying :  these  eggs  produce 
maggots  called  jumpers,  which,  harbouring  in  the  gammons  and 
best  parts  of  the  hogs,  eat  down  to  the  bone,  and  make  great 
waste.  This  fly  I  suspect  to  be  a  variety  of  the  musca  putris  of 
Linnaeus :  it  is  to  be  seen  in  the  summer  in  farm-kitchens  on  the 
bacon-racks  and  about  the  mantel-pieces,  and  on  the  ceilings.2 

The  insect  that  infests  turnips  and  many  crops  in  the  garden 
(destroying  often  whole  fields  while  in  their  seedling  leaves)  is 
an  animal  that  wants  to  be  better  known.  The  country  people 
here  call  it  the  turnip-fly  and  black-dolphin  ;  but  I  know  it  to  be 
one  of  the  coleoptera  ;  the  "  chrysomela  oleracea,  saltatoria,  femori- 
"  bus  posticis  crassissimis  ".  In  very  hot  summers  they  abound  to 
an  amazing  degree,  and,  as  you  walk  in  a  field  or  in  a  garden, 
make  a  pattering  like  rain,  by  jumping  on  the  leaves  of  the 
turnips  or  cabbages.3 

There  is  an  Oestrus,  known  in  these  parts  to  every  ploughboy ; 
which,  because  it  is  omitted  by  Linnaeus,  is  also  passed  over  by 
late  writers,  and  that  is  the  cwvicauda  of  old  Moiifet,  mentioned 
by  Derham  in  his  Physico-theology,  p.  250 :  an  insect  worthy  of 
remark  for  depositing  it's  eggs  as  it  flies  in  so  dexterous  a  manner 
on  the  single  hairs  of  the  legs  and  flanks  of  grass-horses.4  But 
then  Derham  is  mistaken  when  he  advances  that  this  Oestrus 
is  the  parent  of  that  wonderful  star-tailed  maggot  which  he 

1  [The  harvest-bug  is  usually  an  immature  acarus,  having  only  six  legs ;   the 
young  of  Tetranychus  autumnalis,  Shaw.] 

2  [The  bacon-fly  is  very  similar  to  (perhaps  identical  with)  the  cheese-fly  (Piophila 
casei,    L.),   whose  larvae,   the    well-known   "cheese-hoppers,"  are  described  by 
Swammerdam  in  the  Biblia  Natures.     The  bacon-fly  has  been  described  hy  Hali- 
day  as  P.  luteata.     It  is  said  to  be  stouter  than  the  cheese-fly,  with  shorter  and 
thicker  legs  and  yellower  wings.] 

3  [The  turnip-flea  beetle  (Haltica  or  Phyllotreta  nemorum,  L.).] 

4  [The  horse-bot  (Gastrophilus  equi,  Fab.).] 


OF  SELBORNE  75 

mentions  afterwards ;  for  more  modern  entomologists  have  dis- 
covered that  singular  production  to  be  derived  from  the  egg 
of  the  musca  chamceleon  :  see  Geoff roy,  t.  17,  f.  4.1 

A  full  history  of  noxious  insects  hurtful  in  the  field,  garden, 
and  house,  suggesting  all  the  known  and  likely  means  of  de- 
stroying them,  would  be  allowed  by  the  public  to  be  a  most 
useful  and  important  work.  What  knowledge  there  is  of  this 
sort  lies  scattered,  and  wants  to  be  collected ;  great  improve- 
ments would  soon  follow  of  course.  A  knowledge  of  the  pro- 
perties, oeconomy,  propagation,  and  in  short  of  the  life  and 
conversation  of  these  animals,  is  a  necessary  step  to  lead  us  to 
some  method  of  preventing  their  depredations. 

As  far  as  I  am  a  judge,  nothing  would  recommend  entomology 
more  than  some  neat  plates  that  should  well  express  the  generic 
distinctions  of  insects  according  to  Linn&us  ;  for  I  am  well  assured 
that  many  people  would  study  insects,  could  they  set  out  with  a 
more  adequate  notion  of  those  distinctions  than  can  be  conveyed 
at  first  by  words  alone. 


LETTER  XXXV. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  1771. 
DEAR  SIR, 

HAPPENING  to  make  a  visit  to  my  neighbour's  peacocks,  I  could 
not  help  observing  that  the  trains  of  those  magnificent  birds 
appear  by  no  means  to  be  their  tails ;  those  long  feathers 
growing  not  from  their  uropt/gium,  but  all  up  their  backs.  A 
range  of  short  brown  stiff  feathers,  about  six  inches  long,  fixed 
in  the  uropygium,  is  the  real  tail,  and  serves  as  the  fulcrum  to 
prop  the  train,  which  is  long  and  top-heavy,  when  set  on  end. 
When  the  train  is  up,  nothing  appears  of  the  bird  before  but  it's 
head  and  neck ;  but  this  would  not  be  the  case  were  those  long 
feathers  fixed  only  in  the  rump,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  turkey- 
cock  when  in  a  strutting  attitude.  By  a  strong  muscular  vibra- 
tion these  birds  can  make  the  shafts  of  their  long  feathers  clatter 
like  the  swords  of  a  sword-dancer ;  they  then  trample  very  quick 
with  their  feet,  and  run  backwards  towards  the  females. 

1  \Stratiomys  chamteleon,  L.] 


76  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

I  should  tell  you  that  I  have  got  an  uncommon  calculus  cegogro- 
pila,  taken  out  of  the  stomach  of  a  fat  ox ;  it  is  perfectly  round, 
and  about  the  size  of  a  large  Seville  orange  ;  such  are,  I  think, 
usually  flat. 


LETTER  XXXVI. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Sept.  1771. 


DEAR  SIR, 


THE  summer  through  I  have  seen  but  two  of  that  large  species 
of  bat  which  I  call  vespertilio  altivolans,1  from  it's  manner  of 
feeding  high  in  the  air :  I  procured  one  of  them,  and  found  it 
to  be  a  male  ;  and  made  no  doubt,  as  they  accompanied  together, 
that  the  other  was  a  female :  but,  happening  in  an  evening  or 
two  to  procure  the  other  likewise,  I  was  somewhat  disappointed, 
when  it  appeared  to  be  also  of  the  same  sex.  This  circumstance, 
and  the  great  scarcity  of  this  sort,  at  least  in  these  parts,  occasions 
some  suspicions  in  my  mind  whether  it  is  really  a  species,  or 
whether  it  may  not  be  the  male  part  of  the  more  known  species, 
one  of  which  may  supply  many  females ;  as  is  known  to  be  the 
case  in  sheep,  and  some  other  quadrupeds.  But  this  doubt  can 
only  be  cleared  by  a  farther  examination,  and  some  attention  to 
the  sex,  of  more  specimens :  all  that  I  know  at  present  is,  that 
my  two  were  amply  furnished  with  the  parts  of  generation  much 
resembling  those  of  a  boar. 

In  the  extent  of  their  wings  they  measured  fourteen  inches 
and  an  half;  and  four  inches  and  an  half  from  the  nose  to  the 
tip  of  the  tail :  their  heads  were  large,  their  nostrils  bilobated, 
their  shoulders  broad  and  muscular ;  and  their  whole  bodies 
fleshy  and  plump.  Nothing  could  be  more  sleek  and  soft  than 
their  fur,  which  was  of  a  bright  chestnut  colour ;  their  maws 
were  full  of  food,  but  so  macerated  that  the  quality  could  not  be 
distinguished  ;  their  livers,  kidnies,  and  hearts,  were  large,  and 
their  bowels  covered  with  fat.  They  weighed  each,  when  entire, 
full  one  ounce  and  one  drachm.  Within  the  ear  there  was  some- 

1  [See  Letter  XXII.  to  Pennant.  White's  Vespertilio  altivolans  is  the  noctule 
( Vesperugo  noctula,  Schreb.).  White  first  discovered  it  in  Britain,  but  it  had  been 
previously  found  in  France  by  Daubenton  and  Buffon.  The  noctule  is  widely 
distributed  throughout  the  southern  counties,  reaching  as  far  north  as  Yorkshire.] 


OF  SELBORNE  77 

what  of  a  peculiar  structure  that  I  did  not  understand  perfectly ; 
but  refer  it  to  the  observation  of  the  curious  anatomist.  These 
creatures  sent  forth  a  very  rancid  and  offensive  smell. 


LETTER  XXXVII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  1771. 
DEAR  SIR, 

ON  the  twelfth  of  July  I  had  a  fair  opportunity  of  contemplating 
the  motions  of  the  caprimulgus,  or  fern-owl,  as  it  was  playing 
round  a  large  oak  that  swarmed  with  scarabcei  solstitiales,  or  fern- 
chafers.  The  powers  of  it's  wing  were  wonderful,  exceeding, 
if  possible,  the  various  evolutions  and  quick  turns  of  the  swallow 
genus.  But  the  circumstance  that  pleased  me  most  was,  that 
I  saw  it  distinctly,  more  than  once,  put  out  it's  short  leg  while 
on  the  wing,  and,  by  a  bend  of  the  head,  deliver  somewhat  into 
its  mouth.  If  it  takes  any  part  of  its  prey  with  its  foot,  as  I  have 
now  the  greatest  reason  to  suppose  it  does  these  chafers,  I  no 
longer  wonder  at  the  use  of  it's  middle  toe,  which  is  curiously 
furnished  with  a  serrated  claw.1 

Swallows  and  martins,  the  bulk  of  them  I  mean,  have  forsaken 
us  sooner  this  year  than  usual ;  for,  on  September  the  twenty- 
second,  they  rendezvoused  in  a  neighbour's  walnut-tree,  where 
it  seemed  probable  they  had  taken  up  their  lodging  for  the 
night.  At  the  dawn  of  the  day,  which  was  foggy,  they  arose 
all  together  in  infinite  numbers,  occasioning  such  a  rushing  from 
the  strokes  of  their  wings  against  the  hazy  air,  as  might  be  heard 
to  a  considerable  distance :  since  that  no  flock  has  appeared, 
only  a  few  stragglers. 

Some  swifts  staid  late,  till  the  twenty-second  of  August — a 

1  [The  use  of  this  claw,  serrated  (i.e.,  toothed)  on  the  inner  side,  has  never  yet 
been  determined.  A  good  account  of  the  explanations  advanced  will  be  found  in 
Mr.  Harting's  Summer  Migrants,  p.  215  f.  White's  observation  may  certainly 
indicate  one  use  to  which  the  claw  is  put,  and  this  is  not  invalidated  by  the  fact 
that  other  birds,  which  do  not  take  their  food  on  the  wing,  e.g.,  the  stone  curlew, 
also  have  the  middle  claw  more  or  less  serrated.  The  position  of  the  serration, 
and  the  fact  that  in  some  birds  the  teeth  have  been  found  crammed  with  insects 
which  infest  the  plumage,  suggests  that  the  claw  may  in  some  cases  be  used  as  a 
comb.  But  see  Coues'  Field  and  General  Ornithology,  p.  196.] 


78  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

rare    instance !    for    they    usually    withdraw    within    the    first 
week.1 

On  September  the  twenty-fourth  three  or  four  ring-ousels 
appeared  in  ray  fields  for  the  first  time  this  season :  how  punctual 
are  these  visitors  in  their  autumnal  and  spring  migrations ! 


LETTER  XXXVIII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  March  15,  1773. 
DEAR  SIR, 

BY  my  journal  for  last  autumn  it  appears  that  the  house-martins 
bred  very  late,  and  staid  very  late  in  these  parts  ;  for,  on  the 
first  of  October,  I  saw  young  martins  in  their  nests  nearly  fledged  ; 
and  again,  on  the  twenty-first  of  October,  we  had  at  the  next 
house  a  nest  full  of  young  martins  just  ready  to  fly  ;  and  the  old 
ones  were  hawking  for  insects  with  great  alertness.  The  next 
morning  the  brood  forsook  their  nest,  and  were  flying  round  the 
village.  From  this  day  I  never  saw  one  of  the  swallow  kind  till 
November  the  third  ;  when  twenty,  or  perhaps  thirty,  house- 
martins  were  playing  all  day  long  by  the  side  of  the  hanging 
wood,  and  over  my  fields.  Did  these  small  weak  birds,  some  of 
which  were  nestlings  twelve  days  ago,  shift  their  quarters  at  this 
late  season  of  the  year  to  the  other  side  of  the  northern  tropic  ? 
Or  rather,  is  it  not  more  probable  that  the  next  church,  ruin, 
chalk-cliff,  steep  covert,  or  perhaps  sandbank,  lake  or  pool  (as  a 
more  northern  naturalist  would  say),  may  become  their  hyberna- 
culum,  and  afford  them  a  ready  and  obvious  retreat  ?  2 

We  now  begin  to  expect  our  vernal  migration  of  ring-ousels 
every  week.  Persons  worthy  of  credit  assure  me  that  ring-ousels 
were  seen  at  Christmas  1770  in  the  forest  of  Bere,  on  the  southern 

1  See  letter  lii.  to  Mr.  Harrington. 

[It  is  not  uncommon  to  find  a  solitary  swift  as  late  as  the  first  week  of 
September.] 

8  [White  here  assumes  that  the  martins  he  saw  on  November  3  were  the  same 
late  broods  that  he  had  noted  in  October,  and  was  thus  led  to  guess  that  they  had 
gone  into  some  "  hibernaculum  "  in  the  meantime.  But  his  assumption  was  pro- 
bably incorrect ;  the  party  seen  in  November  3  was  no  doubt  composed  of  travellers 
from  some  other  quarter.  Had  his  curiosity  taken  him  on  a  journey  along  the 
coast  during  the  time  of  migration,  he  would  have  become  aware  of  the  gradual 
method  of  travelling  adopted  by  these  birds,  and  so  have  dispensed  with  the  theory 
of  the  "  hibernaculum  ".] 


OF  SELBORNE  79 

verge  of  this  county.1  Hence  we  may  conclude  that  their  migra- 
tions are  only  internal,  and  not  extended  to  the  continent  south- 
ward, if  they  do  at  first  come  at  all  from  the  northern  parts  of 
this  island  only,  and  not  from  the  north  of  Europe.  Come  from 
whence  they  will,  it  is  plain,  from  the  fearless  disregard  that 
they  shew  for  men  or  guns,  that  they  have  been  little  accustomed 
to  places  of  much  resort.  Navigators  mention  that  in  the  Isle  of 
Ascension,  and  other  such  desolate  districts,  birds  are  so  little 
acquainted  with  the  human  form  that  they  settle  on  men's 
shoulders ;  and  have  no  more  dread  of  a  sailor  than  they  would 
have  of  a  goat  that  was  grazing.  A  young  man  at  Lewes,  in 
Sussex,  assured  me  that  about  seven  years  ago  ring-ousels 
abounded  so  about  that  town  in  the  autumn  that  he  killed 
sixteen  himself  in  one  afternoon :  he  added  further,  that  some 
had  appeared  since  in  every  autumn ;  but  he  could  not  find  that 
any  had  been  observed  before  the  season  in  which  he  shot  so 
many.  I  myself  have  found  these  birds  in  little  parties  in  the 
autumn  cantoned  all  along  the  Sussex  downs,  wherever  there 
were  shrubs  and  bushes,  from  Ckichester  to  Lewes;  particularly 
in  the  autumn  of  1770. 

I  am,  &c. 


LETTER  XXXIX. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  Nov.  9,  1773. 
DEAR  SIR, 

As  you  desire  me  to  send  you  such  observations  as  may  occur,  I 
take  the  liberty  of  making  the  following  remarks,  that  you  may, 
according  as  you  think  me  right  or  wrong,  admit  or  reject  what 
I  here  advance,  in  your  intended  new  edition  of  the  British 
Zoology. 

The  osprey2  was  shot  about  a  year  ago  at  Frinsham-pond,  a 
great  lake,  at  about  six  miles  from  hence,  while  it  was  sitting  on 
the  handle  of  a  plough  and  devouring  a  fish  :  it  used  to  pre- 
cipitate itself  into  the  water,  and  so  take  it's  prey  by  surprise. 

A  great  ash-coloured3  butcher-bird  was   shot  last  winter  in 

1  [Either  the  "  persons  worthy  of  credit "  were  not  really  such,  or  the  occurrence 
was  quite  exceptional.  In  any  case  White's  inference  (that  the  migration  was 
only  internal)  was  too  hasty.] 

*  British  Zoology,  vol.  i.,  p.  128,  3  p.  161. 


80  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

Tisted-park,  and  a  red-backed  butcher-bird  at  Selborne :  they 
are  rarce  aves  in  this  country.1 

Crows  2  go  in  pairs  the  whole  year  round. 

Cornish  choughs  3  abound,  and  breed  on  Beachy-head  and  on  all 
the  cliffs  of  the  Sussex  coast.4 

The  common  wild-pigeon,5  or  stock-dove,  is  a  bird  of  passage 
in  the  south  of  England,  seldom  appearing  till  towards  the  end 
of  November  ;  is  usually  the  latest  winter-bird  of  passage.  Before 
our  beechen  woods  were  so  much  destroyed  we  had  myriads  of 
them,  reaching  in  strings  for  a  mile  together  as  they  went  out 
in  a  morning  to  feed.  They  leave  us  early  in  spring ;  where  do 
they  breed  ?  6 

The  people  of  Hampshire  and  Sussex  call  the  missel -bird  7  the 
storm-cock,  because  it  sings  early  in  the  spring  in  blowing  showery 
weather ;  it's  song  often  commences  with  the  year :  with  us  it 
builds  much  in  orchards. 

A  gentleman  assures  me  he  has  taken  the  nests  of  ring-ousels  8 
on  Dartmoor :  they  build  in  banks  on  the  sides  of  streams. 

Titlarks  9  not  only  sing  sweetly  as  they  sit  on  trees,  but  also  as 
they  play  and  toy  about  on  the  wing ;  and  particularly  while  they 
are  descending,  and  sometimes  as  they  stand  on  the  ground.10 

Adanson's  n  testimony  seems  to  me  to  be  a  very  poor  evidence 
that  European  swallows  migrate  during  our  winter  to  Senegal :  he 
does  not  talk  at  all  like  an  ornithologist ;  and  probably  saw  only 
the  swallows  of  that  country,  which  I  know  build  within 
Governor  O'Hara's  hall  against  the  roof.  Had  he  known 
European  swallows,  would  he  not  have  mentioned  the  species  ? 

The  house-swallow  washes  by  dropping  into  the  water  as  it 
flies :  this  species  appears  commonly  about  a  week  before  the 
house-martin,  and  about  ten  or  twelve  days  before  the  swift. 

I  [The  two  species  of  shrikes  here  mentioned  are  (i)  the  great  grey  shrike 
(Lanius  excubitor,  L.),  a  straggler  to  England  in  winter  only,  and  (2)  the  red- 
backed  shrike  (Lanius  collurio,  L.),  a  familiar  summer  migrant.     White  can 
hardly  have  meant  that  the  latter  was  shot  at  Selborne  in  winter,  though  his 
language  seems  to  imply  it.] 

*[Brit.  ZooL,  vol.  i.,  p.]  167.  3i98. 

4  [The  chough  (Pyrrhocorax  graculus,  L.)  has  not  bred  on  Beachy  Head  or 
any  part  of  the  coast  east  of  Dorset  for  very  many  years.  From  Dorset  to  Corn- 
wall it  is  still  occasionally  found.] 

6[Brit.  ZooL,  vol.  L,  p.]  216.  6  [See  note  on  Letter  XLIV.  to  Pennant.] 

7  [Brit.  ZooL ,  vol.  i. ,  p.  ]  224.  8  229.  9  vol.  ii. ,  p.  237. 

10 [The  tree-pipit  (Anthus  trivialis,  L.).  In  Letter  IX.  to  Harrington  the  same 
name  is  used  apparently  of  the  meadow-pipit,  the  Alauda  pratensis  of  Ray  ;  and 
it  is  at  least  doubtful  whether  he  distinguished  the  two  species.] 

II  {Brit.  ZooL,  vol.  i.,  p.]  242. 


OF  SELBOENE  81 

In  1772  there  were  young  house-martins1  in  their  nest  till 
October  the  twenty-third. 

The  swift 2  appears  about  ten  or  twelve  days  later  than  the  house- 
swallow  :  viz.  about  the  twenty-fourth  or  twenty-sixth  of  April. 

Whin-chats  and  stone-cliatters  3  stay  with  us  the  whole  year.4 

Some  wheat-ears  5  continue  with  us  the  winter  through.6 

Wagtails,  all  sorts,  remain  with  us  all  the  winter.7 

Bullfinches,8  when  fed  on  hempseed,  often  become  wholly 
black. 

We  have  vast  flocks  of  female  chaffinches  9  all  the  winter,  with 
hardly  any  males  among  them. 

When  you  say  that  in  breeding-time  the  cock-snipes  10  make  a 
bleating  noise,  and  I  a  drumming  (perhaps  I  should  have  rather 
said  an  humming),  I  suspect  we  mean  the  same  thing.  However, 
while  they  are  playing  about  on  the  wing  they  certainly  make  a 
loud  piping  with  their  mouths :  but  whether  that  bleating  or 
humming  is  ventriloquous,  or  proceeds  from  the  motion  of  their 
wings,  I  cannot  say ;  but  this  I  know,  that  when  this  noise 
happens  the  bird  is  always  descending,  and  his  wings  are 
violently  agitated.11 

Soon  after  the  lapwings 12  have  done  breeding  they  congregate, 
and,  leaving  the  moors  and  marshes,  betake  themselves  to  downs 
and  sheep-walks. 

Two  years  ago 18  last  spring  the  little  auk  14  was  found  alive  and 
unhurt,  but  fluttering  and  unable  to  rise,  in  a  lane  a  few  miles 


I  [Brit.  ZooL,  vol.  ii.,  p.]  244.  2  245.  3  270,  271. 

4  As  the  whinchat  (Pratincola  rubelra,  L. )  does  not  remain  with  us  in  winter, 
as  do  a  considerable  number  of  stonechats  (P.  rubicola,  L.),  Mr.  Harting  has  aptly 
suggested  that  White  may  have  mistaken  female  stonechats  for  whinchats,  a  not 
unlikely  blunder  for  one  unprovided  with  a  field-glass.] 

5  [Brit.  ZooL,  vol.  ii.,  p.]  269.  6  [The  wheatear  migrates  regularly.] 

7  [See  note  on  Letter  XIII.  to  Pennant.] 

8  [Brit.  ZooL,  vol.  ii.,  p.]  300.  9  306.  10  358. 

II  ["  I  have  observed  the  drumming  of  snipes  in  bright  days  at  the  beginning  of 
April,  and  I  could  very  clearly  discern  the  manner  in  which  the  sound  is  produced. 
After  rising  high  and  crying /££/,  peet,peet,  which  is  the  snipe's  vernal  note,  it  lets 
itself  drop  obliquely  through  the  air,  keeping  the  wings  motionless,  but  turning  by 
some  muscular  contraction  each  individual  quill  sideways  in  the  same  manner  that 
the  bars  of  a  Venetian  blind  are  turned  to  admit  more  light,  and  having  descended 
to  the  customary  point,  it  readjusts  its  feathers  and  rises  again  obliquely  without 
sound.    They  will  continue  for  hours  together  amusing  themselves  in  this  manner 
upon  a  mild  day,  and  when  they  are  in  this  mood  the  sportsman  has  very  little 
chance  of  getting  near  them." — Herbert,  in  Bennett 's  ed.~\ 

12  [Brit.  ZooL,  vol.  ii.,  p.]  360.  »  409. 

14  [Mergulus  alle,  L. ,  not  uncommonly  driven  southward  and  inland  in  stormy 
winters  from  its  northern  haunts.] 

6 


82  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

from  Alresford,  where  there  is  a  great  lake :  it  was  kept  awhile, 
but  died. 

I  saw  young  teals  l  taken  alive  in  the  ponds  of  W olmer-forest 
in  the  beginning  of  July  last,  along  with  flappers,  or  young  wild 
ducks. 

Speaking  of  the  swift,2  that  page  says  "  it's  drink  the  dew "  ; 
whereas  it  should  be  "  it  drinks  on  the  wing  "  ;  for  all  the  swallow 
kind  sip  their  water  as  they  sweep  over  the  face  of  pools  or  rivers  : 
like  Firgil's  bees,  they  drink  flying,  "flumina  summa  libant  ".3  In 
this  method  of  drinking  perhaps  this  genus  may  be  peculiar. 

Of  the  sedge-bird  4  be  pleased  to  say  it  sings  most  part  of  the 
night ;  it's  notes  are  hurrying,  but  not  unpleasing,  and  imitative 
of  several  birds ;  as  the  sparrow,  swallow,  sky-lark.  When  it 
happens  to  be  silent  in  the  night,  by  throwing  a  stone  or  clod 
into  the  bushes  where  it  sits  you  immediately  set  it  a  singing ; 
or  in  other  words,  though  it  slumbers  sometimes,  yet  as  soon  as 
it  is  awakened  it  reassumes  it's  song. 


LETTER  XL. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  Sept.  2,  1774. 


DEAR  SIR, 


BEFORE  your  letter  arrived,  and  of  my  own  accord,  I  had  been 
remarking  and  comparing  the  tails  of  the  male  and  female 
swallow,  and  this  ere  any  young  broods  appeared ;  so  that  there 
was  no  danger  of  confounding  the  dams  with  their  pulli :  and 
besides,  as  they  were  then  always  in  pairs,  and  busied  in  the 
employ  of  nidification,  there  could  be  no  room  for  mistaking  the 
sexes,  nor  the  individuals  of  different  chimnies  the  one  for  the 
other.  From  all  my  observations,  it  constantly  appeared  that 
each  sex  has  the  long  feathers  in  it's  tail  that  give  it  that  forked 
shape ;  with  this  difference,  that  they  are  longer  in  the  tail  of 
the  male  than  in  that  of  the  female. 

Nightingales,  when  their  young  first  come  abroad,  and  are 
helpless,  make  a  plaintive  and  a  jarring  noise ;  and  also  a 
snapping  or  cracking,  pursuing  people  along  the  hedges  as  they 
walk :  these  last  sounds  seem  intended  for  menace  and  defiance. 

1  [Brit.  Zool.,  voL  ii.,  p.]  475.  2  15. 

3  [Georg.,  IV.,  54.]  4  [Brit.  Zool.,  voL  ii.,  p.]  16. 


OF  SELBOKNE  83 

The  grasshopper-lark  chirps  all  night  in  the  height  of  summer.1 

Swans  turn  white  the  second  year,  and  breed  the  third. 

Weasels  prey  on  moles,  as  appears  by  their  being  sometimes 
caught  in  mole-traps. 

Sparrow-hawks  sometimes  breed  in  old  crows'  nests,  and  the 
kestril  in  churches  and  ruins. 

There  are  supposed  to  be  two  sorts  of  eels  in  the  island  of  Ely. 
The  threads  sometimes  discovered  in  eels  are  perhaps  their 
young :  the  generation  of  eels  is  very  dark  and  mysterious.2 

Hen-harriers  breed  on  the  ground,  and  seem  never  to  settle  on 
trees. 

When  redstarts  shake  their  tails  they  move  them  horizontally, 
as  dogs  do  when  they  fawn  :  the  tail  of  a  wagtail,  when  in  motion, 
bobs  up  and  down  like  that  of  a  jaded  horse.3 

Hedge-sparrows  have  a  remarkable  flirt  with  their  wings  in 
breeding-time ;  as  soon  as  frosty  mornings  come  they  make  a 
very  piping  plaintive  noise. 

Many  birds  which  become  silent  about  Midsummer  reassume 
their  notes  again  in  September  ;  as  the  thrush,  blackbird,4  wood- 

1  ["  Chirp"  is  an  inappropriate  word  for  the  reel  of  the  grasshopper-warbler. 
White  was  probably  at  a  loss  for  a  verb  to  express  the  peculiar  stridulation  which 
he  had  well  described  in  Letter  XVI.  to  Pennant.] 

2  [The  most  important  new  light  upon  the  generation  of  eels  is  that  furnished 
by  the  observations  of  Grassi  and  Calandruccio  (Atti  della  Reale  Accademia  dei 
Lincei,  vol.  vi.,  1897).     It  was  long  ago  ascertained  that  the  eel  descends  to  the 
sea  in  autumn  or  early  winter,  and  that  it  never  spawns,  nor  even  becomes  mature 
in  fresh  waters.     The  eels  which  descend  to  the  sea  never  return,  but  young  eels  or 
elvers  come  up  from  the  sea  in  spring,  millions  at  a  time.     The  elvers  have  been 
seen  to  travel  along  the  bank  of  a  river  in  a  continuous  band  or  eel-rope,  which  has 
been  known  to  glide  upwards  for  fifteen  days  together.     We  now  know  something 
of  that  part  of  the  history  which  is  transacted  in  the  sea.     When  it  leaves  the  river 
the  eel  makes  its  way  to  very  deep  water,  and  there  undergoes  a  change.     The  eyes 
dilate  ;  the  pectoral  fin  and  the  border  of  the  gill-cover  turn  black  ;  the  reproductive 
organs  enlarge.     The  eels  lay  their  eggs  in  water  of  not  less  than  250  fathoms' 
depth,  the  young  which  are  hatched  out  being  tape-like,  transparent,  colourless, 
devoid  of  red  blood,  and  armed  with  peculiar  teeth.     Such  fishes  had  been  captured 
from  time  to  time,  and  described  as  a  peculiar  kind  of  deep-water  fish,  to  which 
the  name  of  Leptocephalus  was  given.     After  a  time  the  Leptocephalus  ceases  to  feed, 
loses  bulk,  and  develops  pigment  on  the  surface  of  the  body.     The  larval  teeth  are 
cast,  and  the  larval  skeleton  is  replaced  by  a  new  one.     Then  the  fish  comes  to  the 
surface,  enters  the  mouth  of  a  river,  and  if  caught  is  immediately  recognised  as  an 
elver.     It  is  now  a  year  old,  and  about  two  inches  long.] 

3  [The  "  flicker  "  of  the  redstart's  tail  has  been  a  curious  puzzle  to  ornithologists. 
Macgillivray,  most  careful  of  observers,  affirmed  that  it  was  a  vertical,  not  a  hori- 
zontal movement,  and  Seebohm  follows  him.     Mr.  Harting  and  others  agree  with 
White.     The  fact  is  that  the  motion  is  so  quick  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  be 
quite  sure  of  the  way  in  which  it  is  done.] 

4  [This  is  probably  a  slip,  and  the  missel-thrush  may  have  been  meant ;  the 
blackbird  rarely,  if  ever,  sings  after  the  moult.     The  question  of  the  cause  of 
autumn  song,  which  White  here  raises,  has  never  yet  been  scientifically  explained.] 


84  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

lark,  willow-wren,  &c. ;  hence  August  is  by  much  the  most  mute 
month,  the  spring,  summer  and  autumn  through.  Are  birds 
induced  to  sing  again  because  the  temperament  of  autumn 
resembles  that  of  spring  ? 

Linnaeus  ranges  plants  geographically ;  palms  inhabit  the 
tropics,  grasses  the  temperate  zones,  and  mosses  and  lichens 
the  polar  circles ;  no  doubt  animals  may  be  classed  in  the  same 
manner  with  propriety. 

House-sparrows  build  under  eaves  in  the  spring ;  as  the  weather 
becomes  hotter  they  get  out  for  coolness,  and  nest  in  plum-trees 
and  apple-trees.  These  birds  have  been  known  sometimes  to 
build  in  rooks'  nests,  and  sometimes  in  the  forks  of  boughs 
under  rooks'  nests. 

As  my  neighbour  was  housing  a  rick  he  observed  that  his 
dogs  devoured  all  the  little  red  mice  that  they  could  catch,  but 
rejected  the  common  mice ;  and  that  his  cats  ate  the  common 
mice,  refusing  the  red. 

Red-breasts  sing  all  through  the  spring,  summer,  and  autumn. 
The  reason  that  they  are  called  autumn  songsters  is,  because  in 
the  two  first  seasons  their  voices  are  drowned  and  lost  in  the 
general  chorus  ;  in  the  latter  their  song  becomes  distinguishable. 
Many  songsters  of  the  autumn  seem  to  be  the  young  cock  red- 
breasts of  that  year :  notwithstanding  the  prejudices  in  their 
favour,  they  do  much  mischief  in  gardens  to  the  summer-fruits.1 

The  titmouse,  which  early  in  February  begins  to  make  two 
quaint  notes,  like  the  whetting  of  a  saw,  is  the  marsh  titmouse  : 
the  great  titmouse  sings  with  three  cheerful  joyous  notes,  and 
begins  about  the  same  time. 

Wrens  sing  all  the  winter  through,  frost  excepted.2 

House-martins  came  remarkably  late  this  year  both  in  Hamp- 
shire and  Devonshire :  is  this  circumstance  for  or  against  either 
hiding  or  migration  ? 

Most  birds  drink  sipping  at  intervals  ;  but  pigeons  take  a  long 
continued  draught,  like  quadrupeds. 

Notwithstanding  what  I  have  said  in  a  former  letter,  no  grey 
crows  were  ever  known  to  breed  on  Dartmoor;  it  was  my  mistake. 

The  appearance  and  flying  of  the  scarabceus  solstitialis,  or  fern- 
chafer,  commence  with  the  month  of  July,  and  cease  about  the 

1  They  eat  also  the  berries  of  the  ivy,  the  honey-suckle,  and  the  euonymvs 
europ<zus,  or  spindle-tree. 

2  [Wrens  will  often  sing  in  severe  frost,  which  does  not  silence  the  winter  singers, 
unless  prolonged  and  sunless.] 


OF  SELBORNE  85 

end  of  it.  These  scarabs  are  the  constant  food  of  caprimulgi,  or 
fern-owls,  through  that  period.  They  abound  on  the  chalky 
downs  and  in  some  sandy  districts,  but  not  in  the  clays. 

In  the  garden  of  the  Black-bear  inn  in  the  town  of  Reading  is 
a  stream  or  canal  running  under  the  stables  and  out  into  the 
fields  on  the  other  side  of  the  road  :  in  this  water  are  many  carps, 
which  lie  rolling  about  in  sight,  being  fed  by  travellers,  who 
amuse  themselves  by  tossing  them  bread :  but  as  soon  as  the 
weather  grows  at  all  severe  these  fishes  are  no  longer  seen, 
because  they  retire  under  the  stables,  where  they  remain  till  the 
return  of  spring.  Do  they  lie  in  a  torpid  state  ?  if  they  do  not, 
how  are  they  supported  ? 

The  note  of  the  white-throat,  which  is  continually  repeated, 
and  often  attended  with  odd  gesticulations  on  the  wing,  is  harsh 
and  displeasing.1  These  birds  seem  of  a  pugnacious  disposition  ; 
for  they  sing  with  an  erected  crest  and  attitudes  of  rivalry  and 
defiance  ;  are  shy  and  wild  in  breeding-time,  avoiding  neigh- 
bourhoods, and  haunting  lonely  lanes  and  commons ;  nay  even 
the  very  tops  of  the  Sussex-downs,  where  there  are  bushes  and 
covert ;  but  in  July  and  August  they  bring  their  broods  into 
gardens  and  orchards,  and  make  great  havock  among  the  summer- 
fruits. 

The  black-cap  has  in  common  a  full,  sweet,  deep,  loud,  and 
wild  pipe  ;  yet  that  strain  is  of  short  continuance,  and  his  motions 
are  desultory ;  but  when  that  bird  sits  calmly  and  engages  in 
song  in  earnest,  he  pours  forth  very  sweet,  but  inward  melody, 
and  expresses  great  variety  of  soft  and  gentle  modulations, 
superior  perhaps  to  those  of  any  of  our  warblers,  the  nightingale 
excepted. 

Black-caps  mostly  haunt  orchards  and  gardens ;  while  they 
warble  their  throats  are  wonderfully  distended. 

The  song  of  the  redstart  is  superior,  though  somewhat  like 
that  of  the  white-throat :  some  birds  have  a  few  more  notes 

1  [White's  impressions  of  the  songs  of  birds  are  always  interesting,  and  in  this 
and  the  three  following  paragraphs  we  have  good  evidence  of  his  care  in  noting 
them ;  but  it  is  singular  that  he  should  have  found  the  vivacious  song  of  the 
whitethroat  displeasing,  in  spite  of  its  lack  of  sweetness.  Objection  has  been 
made  to  this  account  of  the  whitethroat  on  the  ground  that  it  is  not  a  "shy  and 
wild  bird  in  breeding  time";  and  Mr.  Harting  has  even  suggested  that  White 
confused  it  with  the  lesser  whitethroat.  But  it  would  be  equally  untrue  to  describe 
the  latter  as  wild  or  shy  where  it  is  common,  for  it  frequently  breeds  in  gardens ; 
and  its  song  and  attitude  when  singing  are  inconsistent  with  White's  description. 
White  is  only  at  fault  in  slightly  exaggerating  the  fact  that  the  greater  whitethroat 
is,  in  the  breeding  season,  a  bird  of  the  fields  and  hedgerows.] 


86  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

than  others.  Sitting  very  placidly  on  the  top  of  a  tall  tree  in 
a  village,  the  cock  sings  from  morning  to  night :  he  affects 
neighbourhoods,  and  avoids  solitude,  and  loves  to  build  in  or- 
chards and  about  houses ;  with  us  he  perches  on  the  vane  of  a 
tall  maypole. 

The  fly-catcher  is  of  all  our  summer  birds  the  most  mute  and 
the  most  familiar  ;  it  also  appears  the  last  of  any.  It  builds  in  a 
vine,  or  a  sweetbriar,  against  the  wall  of  an  house,  or  in  the  hole 
of  a  wall,  or  on  the  end  of  a  beam  or  plate,  and  often  close  to  the 
post  of  a  door  where  people  are  going  in  and  out  all  day  long. 
This  bird  does  not  make  the  least  pretension  to  song,  but  uses  a 
little  inward  wailing  note  when  it  thinks  it's  young  in  danger 
from  cats  or  other  annoyances  :  it  breeds  but  once,  and  retires 
early.1 

Selborne  parish  alone  can  and  has  exhibited  at  times  more  than 
half  the  birds  that  are  ever  seen  in  all  Sweden  ;  the  former  has 
produced  more  than  one  hundred  and  twenty  species,  the  latter 
only  two  hundred  and  twenty-one.  Let  me  add  also  that  it  has 
shown  near  half  the  species  that  were  ever  known  in  Great- 
Britain.'2' 

On  a  retrospect,  I  observe  that  my  long  letter  carries  with  it 
a  quaint  and  magisterial  air,  and  is  very  sententious  ;  but,  when 
I  recollect  that  you  requested  stricture  and  anecdote,  I  hope  you 
will  pardon  the  didactic  manner  for  the  sake  of  the  information 
it  may  happen  to  contain. 


LETTER  XLI. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

IT  is  matter  of  curious  inquiry  to  trace  out  how  those  species  of 
soft-billed  birds,  that  continue  with  us  the  winter  through,  subsist 
during  the  dead  months.  The  imbecility  of  birds  seems  not  to 
be  the  only  reason  why  they  shun  the  rigour  of  our  winters ; 
for  the  robust  wry-neck  (so  much  resembling  the  hardy  race 
of  wood-peckers)  migrates,  while  the  feeble  little  golden-crowned 

1  ["  The  song  is  very  faint  and  low  "  (H.  Saunders,  Manual  of  British  Birds, 
p.  150).     It  must  be  remembered  that  White's  hearing  was  defective  ;  the  writer  of 
this  note,  who  suffers  in  the  same  way,  has  never  heard  the  song  of  the  flycatcher.] 

2  Sweden,  221,  Great-Britain,  252  species. 

[The  list  ot  British  birds  now  includes  about  370,  of  which  about  no  are  rare  and 
accidental  visitors.] 


OF  SELBORNE  87 

wren,  that  shadow  of  a  bird,  braves  our  severest  frosts  without 
availing  himself  of  houses  or  villages,  to  which  most  of  our 
winter  birds  crowd  in  distressful  seasons,  while  this  keeps  aloof 
in  fields  and  woods ;  but  perhaps  this  may  be  the  reason  why 
they  may  often  perish,  and  why  they  are  almost  as  rare  as  any 
bird  we  know.1 

I  have  no  reason  to  doubt  but  that  the  soft-billed  birds,  which 
winter  with  us,  subsist  chiefly  on  insects  in  their  aurelia  state.2 
All  the  species  of  wagtails  in  severe  weather  haunt  shallow 
streams  near  their  spring-heads,  where  they  never  freeze ;  and, 
by  wading,  pick  out  the  aurelias  of  the  genus  of3  Phryganece,  &c. 

Hedge-sparrvrvs  frequent  sinks  and  gutters  in  hard  weather, 
where  they  pick  up  crumbs  and  other  sweepings :  and  in  mild 
weather  they  procure  worms,  which  are  stirring  every  month  in 
the  year,  as  any  one  may  see  that  will  only  be  at  the  trouble  of 
taking  a  candle  to  a  grass-plot  on  any  mild  winter's  night.  Red- 
breasts and  wrens  in  the  winter  haunt  out-houses,  stables,  and 
barns,  where  they  find  spiders  and  flies  that  have  laid  themselves 
up  during  the  cold  season.  But  the  grand  support  of  the  soft- 
billed  birds  in  winter  is  that  infinite  profusion  of  aurelice  of  the 
lepidoptera  ordo,  which  is  fastened  to  the  twigs  of  trees  and  their 
trunks  ;  to  the  pales  and  walls  of  gardens  and  buildings  ;  and  is 
found  in  every  cranny  and  cleft  of  rock  or  rubbish,  and  even  in 
the  ground  itself. 

Every  species  of  titmouse  winters  with  us  ;  they  have  what  I 
call  a  kind  of  intermediate  bill  between  the  hard  and  the  soft, 
between  the  Linncean  genera  of  fringilla  and  motacilla.  One 
species  alone  spends  it's  whole  time  in  the  woods  and  fields, 
never  retreating  for  succour  in  the  severest  seasons  to  houses  and 
neighbourhoods  ;  and  that  is  the  delicate  long-tailed  titmouse, 
which  is  almost  as  minute  as  the  golden-crowned  wren  :  but  the 
blue  titmouse,  or  nun  (parus  cceruleus),  the  cole-mouse  (pants 
ater),  the  great  black-headed  titmouse  (fringillago),  and  the 
marsh  titmouse  (parm  palustris),  all  resort,  at  times,  to  buildings ; 
and  in  hard  weather  particularly.  The  great  titmouse,  driven 
by  stress  of  weather,  much  frequents  houses  ;  and,  in  deep  snows, 
I  have  seen  this  bird,  while  it  hung  with  it's  back  downwards  (to 

1  [It  is  now  a  well-known  fact  that  this  minute  bird,  though  resident  in  small 
numbers,  migrates  to  our  eastern  shores  in  vast  numbers  every  autumn.] 

2  [The  truth  of  this  conjecture,  which  is  amplified  in  the  next  paragraph,  has 
recently  been  remarkably  confirmed  by  experiments  made  by  Prof.  Poulton.     See 
Report  of  British  Association  for  1898.] 

3  See  Derham's  Physico-theology,  p.  235. 


88  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

my  no  small  delight  and  admiration),  draw  straws  lengthwise  from 
out  the  eaves  of  thatched  houses,  in  order  to  pull  out  the  flies 
that  were  concealed  between  them,  and  that  in  such  numbers  that 
they  quite  defaced  the  thatch,  and  gave  it  a  ragged  appearance. 

The  blue  titmouse,  or  nun,  is  a  great  frequenter  of  houses,  and 
a  general  devourer.  Besides  insects,  it  is  very  fond  of  flesh  ;  for 
it  frequently  picks  bones  on  dunghills  :  it  is  a  vast  admirer  of 
suet,  and  haunts  butchers'  shops.  When  a  boy,  I  have  known 
twenty  in  a  morning  caught  with  snap  mouse-traps,  baited  with 
tallow  or  suet.  It  will  also  pick  holes  in  apples  left  on  the 
ground,  and  be  well  entertained  with  the  seeds  on  the  head  of 
a  sun-flower.  The  blue,  marsh,  and  great  titmice  will,  in  very 
severe  weather,  carry  away  barley  and  oat  straws  from  the  sides 
of  ricks. 

How  the  wheat-ear  and  whin-chat  support  themselves  in  winter 
cannot  be  so  easily  ascertained,1  since  they  spend  their  time  on 
wild  heaths  and  warrens  ;  the  former  especially,  where  there  are 
stone  quarries  :  most  probably  it  is  that  their  maintenance  arises 
from  the  aurelice  of  the  lepidoptera  ordo,  which  furnish  them  with 
a  plentiful  table  in  the  wilderness. 

I  am,  &c. 


LETTER  XLII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  March  9,  1775. 
DEAR  SIR, 

SOME  future  faunist,  a  man  of  fortune,  will,  I  hope,  extend  his 
visits  to  the  kingdom  of  Ireland;  a  new  field,  and  a  country 
little  known  to  the  naturalist.  He  will  not,  it  is  to  be  wished, 
undertake  that  tour  unaccompanied  by  a  botanist,  because  the 
mountains  have  scarcely  been  sufficiently  examined ;  and  the 
southerly  counties  of  so  mild  an  island  may  possibly  afford  some 
plants  little  to  be  expected  within  the  British  dominions.  A 
person  of  a  thinking  turn  of  mind  will  draw  many  just  remarks 
from  the  modern  improvements  of  that  country,  both  in  arts 
and  agriculture,  where  premiums  obtained  long  before  they 
were  heard  of  with  us.  The  manners  of  the  wild  natives,  their 

1  [Both  the  wheatear  and  the  whinchat  migrate  regularly.] 


OF  SELBORNE  89 

superstitions,  their  prejudices,  their  sordid  way  of  life,  will  extort 
from  him  many  useful  reflections.  He  should  also  take  with 
him  an  able  draughtsman ;  for  he  must  by  no  means  pass  over 
the  noble  castles  and  seats,  the  extensive  and  picturesque  lakes 
and  waterfalls,  and  the  lofty  stupendous  mountains,  so  little 
known,  and  so  engaging  to  the  imagination  when  described  and 
exhibited  in  a  lively  manner :  such  a  work  would  be  well 
received. 

As  I  have  seen  no  modern  map  of  Scotland,  I  cannot  pretend 
to  say  how  accurate  or  particular  any  such  may  be ;  but  this  I 
know,  that  the  best  old  maps  of  that  kingdom  are  very  defective. 
The  great  obvious  defect  that  I  have  remarked  in  all  maps  of 
Scotland  that  have  fallen  in  my  way  is,  a  want  of  a  coloured  line, 
or  stroke,  that  shall  exactly  define  the  just  limits  of  that  district 
called  The  Highlands.  Moreover,  all  the  great  avenues  to  that 
mountainous  and  romantic  country  want  to  be  well  distinguished. 
The  military  roads  formed  by  general  Wade  are  so  great  and 
Roman-like  an  undertaking  that  they  well  merit  attention.  My 
old  map,  Moll's  Map,  takes  notice  of  Fort  William  ;  but  could  not 
mention  the  other  forts  that  have  been  erected  long  since : 
therefore  a  good  representation  of  the  chain  of  forts  should  not 
be  omitted. 

The  celebrated  zigzag  up  the  Coryarich  must  not  be  passed 
over.  Moll  takes  notice  of  Hamilton  and  Drumlanrig,  and  such 
capital  houses  ;  but  a  new  survey,  no  doubt,  should  represent 
every  seat  and  castle  remarkable  for  any  great  event,  or  celebrated 
for  it's  paintings,  &c.  Lord  Breadalbane's  seat  and  beautiful 
policy  are  too  curious  and  extraordinary  to  be  omitted. 

The  seat  of  the  Earl  of  Eglintoun,  near  Glasgow,  is  worthy  of 
notice.  The  pine-plantations  of  that  nobleman  are  very  grand 
and  extensive  indeed. 

I  am,  &c. 

LETTER  XLIII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

A  PAIR  of  honey-buzzards,  buteo  apivorus,1  sive  vespivorus  Raii,  built 
them  a  large  shallow  nest,  composed  of  twigs  and  lined  with 

1  [Pernis  apivorus,  L.  This  interesting  and  quite  harmless  migrant,  which 
formerly  bred  in  some  numbers  in  Hampshire,  is  now  believed  to  have  been  driven 
away,  chiefly  by  the  ravages  of  collectors.] 


90  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

dead  beechen  leaves,  upon  a  tall  slender  beech  near  the  middle  of 
Selborne-hanger,  in  the  summer  of  1780.  In  the  middle  of  the 
month  of  June  a  bold  boy  climbed  this  tree,  though  standing  on 
so  steep  and  dizzy  a  situation,  and  brought  down  an  egg,  the 
only  one  in  the  nest,  which  had  been  sat  on  for  some  time,  and 
contained  the  embrio  of  a  young  bird.  The  egg  was  smaller, 
and  not  so  round  as  those  of  the  common  buzzard ;  was  dotted 
at  each  end  with  small  red  spots,  and  surrounded  in  the  middle 
with  a  broad  bloody  zone. 

The  hen-bird  was  shot,  and  answered  exactly  to  Mr.  Ray's 
description  of  that  species ;  had  a  black  cere,  short  thick  legs, 
and  a  long  tail.  When  on  the  wing  this  species  may  be  easily 
distinguished  from  the  common  buzzard  by  it's  hawk-like  appear- 
ance, small  head,  wings  not  so  blunt,  and  longer  tail.  This 
specimen  contained  in  it's  craw  some  limbs  of  frogs  and  many 
grey  snails  without  shells.  The  irides  of  the  eyes  of  this  bird 
were  of  a  beautiful  bright  yellow  colour. 

About  the  tenth  of  July  in  the  same  summer  a  pair  of  sparrow- 
hawks  bred  in  an  old  crow's  nest  on  a  low  beech  in  the  same 
hanger ;  and  as  their  brood,  which  was  numerous,  began  to  grow 
up,  became  so  daring  and  ravenous,  that  they  were  a  terror  to  all 
the  dames  in  the  village  that  had  chickens  or  ducklings  under 
their  care.  A  boy  climbed  the  tree,  and  found  the  young  so 
fledged  that  they  all  escaped  from  him ;  but  discovered  that  a 
good  house  had  been  kept :  the  larder  was  well-stored  with 
provisions ;  for  he  brought  down  a  young  blackbird,  jay,  and 
house-martin,  all  clean  picked,  and  some  half  devoured.  The 
old  birds  had  been  observed  to  make  sad  havock  for  some  days 
among  the  new-flown  swallows  and  martins,  which,  being  but 
lately  out  of  their  nests,  had  not  acquired  those  powers  and 
command  of  wing  that  enable  them,  when  more  mature,  to  set 
such  enemies  at  defiance. 


LETTER  XLIV. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  Nov.  30,  1780. 
DEAR  SIR, 

EVERY  incident  that  occasions  a  renewal  of  our  correspondence 
will  ever  be  pleasing  and  agreeable  to  me. 


OF  SELBORNE  91 

As  to  the  wild  wood-pigeon,  the  oenas,  or  vinago,  of  Ray,1  I  am 
much  of  your  mind ;  and  see  no  reason  for  making  it  the  origin 
of  the  common  house-dove  :  but  suppose  those  that  have  advanced 
that  opinion  may  have  been  misled  by  another  appellation,  often 
given  to  the  oenas,  which  is  that  of  stock-dove. 

Unless  the  stock-dove  in  the  winter  varies  greatly  in  manners 
from  itself  in  summer,  no  species  seems  more  unlikely  to  be 
domesticated,  and  to  make  an  house-dove.  We  very  rarely  see 
the  latter  settle  on  trees  at  all,  nor  does  it  ever  haunt  the  woods  ; 
but  the  former,  as  long  as  it  stays  with  us,  from  November  perhaps 
to  February,  lives  the  same  wild  life  with  the  ring-dove,  palumbus 
tor  qua!  us ;  frequents  coppices  and  groves,  supports  itself  chiefly 
by  mast,  and  delights  to  roost  in  the  tallest  beeches.  Could  it 
be  known  in  what  manner  stock-doves  build,  the  doubt  would 
be  settled  with  me  at  once,  provided  they  construct  their  nests 
on  trees,  like  the  ring-dove,  as  I  much  suspect  they  do. 

You  received,  you  say,  last  spring  a  stock-dove  from  Sussex  ;  and 
are  informed  that  they  sometimes  breed  in  that  country.  But 
why  did  not  your  correspondent  determine  the  place  of  it's  nidi- 
ncation,  whether  on  rocks,  cliffs,  or  trees  ?  If  he  was  not  an 
adroit  ornithologist  I  should  doubt  the  fact,  because  people  with 
us  perpetually  confound  the  stock-dove  with  the  ring-dove. 

For  my  own  part,  I  readily  concur  with  you  in  supposing  that 
house-doves  are  derived  from  the  small  blue  rock-pigeon,  for  many 
reasons.2  In  the  first  place  the  wild  stock-dove  is  manifestly 
larger  than  the  common  house-dove,  against  the  usual  rule  of 
domestication,  which  generally  enlarges  the  breed.  Again,  those 
two  remarkable  black  spots  on  the  remiges  of  each  wing  of  the 
stock-dove,  which  are  so  characteristic  of  the  species,  would  not, 
one  should  think,  be  totally  lost  by  it's  being  reclaimed  ;  but 
would  often  break  out  among  its  descendants.  But  what  is 
worth  an  hundred  arguments  is,  the  instance  you  give  in  Sir 
Roger  Mostyn's  house-doves  in  Caernarvonshire ;  which,  though 

1  \Columba  oenas,  L.     White  evidently  regarded  this  species  as  the  most  abun- 
dant which  frequented  Selborne,  but  only  as  a  winter  "  internal "  migrant.     Borrer 
(Birds  of  Sussex,  p.  178)  says  that  it  assembles  in  large  flocks  in  the  winter.    It  breeds 
in  great  numbers  in  trees,  cliffs,  and  even  in  rabbit-burrows  (as,  e.g.,  at  Lulworth) 
along  the  south  coast,  and  packs  in  autumn,  with  the  ring-dove,  to  feed  in  woods 
and  fields.     See  Letter  XXXIX.  to  Pennant.] 

2  [In  this  passage  White  foreshadowed  both  the  argument  and  the  conclusion 
of  Darwin  (see  Animals  and  Plants  under  Domestication,  vol.  i.,  chap.  vi.).     There 
is  now  no  doubt  that  the  domestic  pigeon  is  descended  from  the  small  rock-dove 
(Columba  livia,  L. ),  or  that  the  name  stock-dove  is  derived  from  stock  =  free,  and  not 
stock  =  race.    White's  observation  and  perspicuity  are  nowhere  better  illustrated  than 
in  this  .letter.] 


92  THE  NATURAL  HISTOEY 

tempted  by  plenty  of  food  and  gentle  treatment,  can  never  be 
prevailed  on  to  inhabit  their  cote  for  any  time  ;  but,  as  soon  as 
they  begin  to  breed,  betake  themselves  to  the  fastnesses  of 
Ormshead,  and  deposit  their  young  in  safety  amidst  the  inac- 
cessible caverns  and  precipices  of  that  stupendous  promontory. 

"  Naturam  expellas  furca  .  .  .  tamen  usque  recurret." l 

1  have  consulted  a  sportsman,  now  in  his  seventy-eighth  year, 
who  tells  me  that  fifty  or  sixty  years  back,  when  the  beechen 
woods  were  much  more  extensive  than  at  present,  the  number 
of  wood-pigeons  was  astonishing ;  that  he  has  often  killed  near 
twenty  in  a  day ;  and  that  with  a  long  wild-fowl  piece  he  has 
shot  seven  or  eight  at  a  time  on  the  wing  as  they  came  wheeling 
over  his  head  :  he  moreover  adds,  which  I  was  not  aware  of,  that 
often  there  were  among  them  little  parties  of  small  blue  doves, 
which  he  calls  rockiers.2     The  food  of  these  numberless  emigrants 
was  beech-mast  and  some  acorns ;  and  particularly  barley,  which 
they  collected  in  the   stubbles.      But  of  late  years,  since  the 
vast  increase  of  turnips,  that  vegetable  has  furnished  a  great 
part  of  their  support  in  hard  weather ;  and  the  holes  they  pick 
in  these  roots  greatly  damage  the  crop.     From  this  food  their 
flesh  has   contracted  a  rancidness  which   occasions  them  to  be 
rejected  by  nicer  judges  of  eating,  who  thought  them  before  a 
delicate  dish.     They  were  shot  not  only  as  they  were  feeding 
in  the  fields,  and  especially  in  snowy  weather,  but  also  at  the 
close  of  the  evening,  by  men  who  lay  in  ambush  among  the 
woods  and  groves  to  kill  them  as  they  came  in  to  roost.3     These 
are  the  principal  circumstances  relating  to  this  wonderful  internal 
migration,  which  with  us  takes  place  towards  the  end  of  November, 
and  ceases  early  in  the  spring.     Last  winter  we  had  in  Selborne 
high  wood  about  an  hundred  of  these  doves  ;  but  in  former  times 
the  flocks  were  so  vast,  not  only   with   us   but  all  the   district 
round,  that  on  mornings  and  evenings  they  traversed  the  air, 
like  rooks,  in  strings,  reaching  for  a  mile  together.     When  they 
thus  rendezvoused  here  by  thousands,  if  they  happened  to  be 
suddenly  roused  from  their  roost-trees  on  an  evening, 

' '  Their  rising  all  at  once  was  like  the  sound 
"  Of  thunder  heard  remote." 4 

^Hor.,  Ep.t  I.,  10,  24.] 

2  [The  name  suggests  rock-pigeons,  but  they  were  no  doubt  stock-doves.] 

3  Some  old  sportsmen  say  that  the  main  part  of  these  flocks  used  to  withdraw 
as  soon  as  the  heavy  Christmas  frosts  were  over. 

*  [Paradist  Lost,  II.,  476-7.] 


OF  SELBORNE  93 

It  will  by  no  means  be  foreign  to  the  present  purpose  to  add, 
that  I  had  a  relation  in  this  neighbourhood  who  made  it  a  practice, 
for  a  time,  whenever  he  could  procure  the  eggs  of  a  ring-dove,  to 
place  them  under  a  pair  of  doves  that  were  sitting  in  his  own 
pigeon-house  ;  hoping  thereby,  if  he  could  bring  about  a  coalition, 
to  enlarge  his  breed,  and  teach  his  own  doves  to  beat  out  into 
the  woods  and  to  support  themselves  by  mast :  the  plan  was 
plausible,  but  something  always  interrupted  the  success ;  for 
though  the  birds  were  usually  hatched,  and  sometimes  grew  to 
half  their  size,  yet  none  ever  arrived  at  maturity.  I  myself  have 
seen  these  foundlings  in  their  nest  displaying  a  strange  ferocity 
of  nature,  so  as  scarcely  to  bear  to  be  looked  at,  and  snapping 
with  their  bills  by  way  of  menace.  In  short,  they  always  died, 
perhaps  for  want  of  proper  sustenance  :  but  the  owner  thought 
that  by  their  fierce  and  wild  demeanour  they  frighted  their 
foster-mothers,  and  so  were  starved. 

Virgil,  as  a  familiar  occurrence,  by  way  of  simile,  describes  a 
dove  haunting  the  cavern  of  a  rock  in  such  engaging  numbers, 
that  I  cannot  refrain  from  quoting  the  passage  :  and  John  Dryden 
has  rendered  it  so  happily  in  our  language,  that  without  farther 
excuse  I  shall  add  his  translation  also. 

1  Qualis  spelunca  subito  commota  Columba, 

'  Cui  domus,  et  dulces  latebroso  in  pumice  nidi, 

'  Fertur  in  arva  volans,  plausumque  exterrita  pennis 

'  Dat  tecto  ingentem — mox  acre  lapsa  quieto, 

'  Radit  iter  liquidum,  celeres  neque  commovet  alas."1 

1  As  when  a  dove  her  rocky  hold  forsakes, 
'  Rous'd,  in  a  fright  her  sounding  wings  she  shakes  ; 
1  The  cavern  rings  with  clattering  : — out  she  flies, 
4  And  leaves  her  callow  care,  and  cleaves  the  skies  : 
'  At  first  she  flutters  :— but  at  length  she  springs 
1  To  smoother  flight,  and  shoots  upon  her  wings." 

I  am,  &c. 


LETTER  I. 

TO  THE  HONOURABLE  DAINES  HARRINGTON. 

Selborne,  June  30,  1769. 
DEAR  SIR, 

WHEN  I  was  in  town  last  month  I  partly  engaged  that  I  would 
sometime  do  myself  the  honour  to  write  to  you  on  the  subject  of 

,  V.,  213-7.] 


94 


THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 


natural  history :  and  I  am  the  more  ready  to  fulfil  my  promise, 
because  I  see  you  are  a  gentleman  of  great  candour,  and  one  that 
will  make  allowances ;  especially  where  the  writer  professes  to 
be  an  out-door  naturalist,  one  that  takes  his  observations  from  the 
subject  itself,  and  not  from  the  writings  of  others. 

The  following  is  a  LIST  of  the  SUMMER  BIRDS  of  PASSAGE  which  I 
have  discovered  in  this  neighbourhood,  ranged  somewhat  in  the  order 
in  which  they  appear  : 


RAII   NOMINA. 


1.  Wryneck, 

2.  Smallest  willow-wren,1 

3.  Swallow, 


USUALLY   APPEARS   ABOUT 

/The  middle  of  March  :  harsh 
\     note. 

.  /  March    23  :     chirps    till    Sep- 
y     tember. 
April  13. 
Ditto. 
Ditto. 

Ditto  :  a  sweet  wild  note. 
Beginning  of  April. 
Middle  of  April. 
Ditto  :  a  sweet  plaintive  note  . 
/  Ditto  :  mean  note  ;  sings  on  till 
\     September. 

Ditto  :  more  agreeable  song. 
/  End  of  March  :  loud  nocturnal 
^     whistle. 
Turtur  : 

(  Alauda    minima    lo-  /  Middle  of  April  :  asmallsibil- 
1^     ous  note,  till  the  end  of  July. 
About  April  27. 

/  Passer    arundinaceus  (  A  sweet  polyglot,  but  hurrying  : 
\     minor:  \     it  has  the  notes  of  many  birds. 

Ortygometra  :  A  loud  harsh  note,  crex,  crex. 

{Cantat  voce  stridula  locustae  ; 
end  of  April,  on  the  tops  of 
high  beeches. 

/  Beginning  of  May  :  chatters  by 
\     night  with  a  singular  noise. 
CMay  12.      A  very  mute  bird  : 

Stoparola  :  -j      this    is    the  latest    summer 

(^     bird  of  passage. 

This  assemblage  of  curious  and  amusing  birds  belongs  to  ten 
several  genera  of  the  Linncean  system  ;  and  are  all  of  the  ordo  of 


Martin, 

5.  Sand-martin, 

6.  Black-cap, 

7.  Nightingale, 

8.  Cuckoo, 

9.  Middle  willow- wren,2 

10.  White-throat, 

11.  Red-start, 

12.  Stone-curlew, 

13.  Turtle-dove, 

14.  Grasshopper-lark,5 

15.  Swift, 

1 6.  Less  reed-sparrow,6 

17.  Land-rail,7 

1 8.  Largest  willow- wren,8 

19.  Goat-sucker,   or   fern- 

owl, 

20.  Fly-catcher,9 


fynx,  sive  torquilla  : 

Regulus  non  cristatus : 

Hirundo  domestica  : 
Hirundo  rustica  : 
Hirundo  riparia  : 
Atricapilla : 
Luscinia  : 
Cuculus  : 
Regulus  non  cristatus . 

Ficedula  affinis  : 3 
Ruticilla  : 4 
Oedicnemus : 


\     custce  voce : 
Hirundo  apus : 


-  Caprimulgus : 


The  chiffchaff  (Phylloscopus  rufus,  Bechst.).] 
The  willow-  wren  (P.  trochilus,  L.).] 


Sylvia  rufa,  Bodd.] 


.  phoenicurus,  L.] 


The  grasshopper- warbler  (Locustella  ntzvia,  Bodd.).] 
The  sedge-warbler  (Acrocephalus phragmitis,  Bechst.)/ 
Crexpratensis,  Bechst.] 

8  The  wood-wren  (Phylloscopus  sibilatrix,  Bechst.).] 
Muscicapa  grisola,  L.] 


OF  SELBORNE 


95 


passeres  save  the  jynx  and  cuculus,  which  are  piece,  and  the  char- 
adrius  (oedicnemus}  and  rallus  (ortygometra),  which  are  grallce. 

These  birds,  as  they  stand  numerically,  belong  to  the  following 
Linncean  genera : 


2,  6,  7,  9,  10,  ii,  16,  18. 
3-  4,  5.  IS- 


Jynx : 
Motacilla  : 
Hirundo : 
Cuculus : 
Charadrius : 


13.  Columba  : 
17.  Rallus  : 

19.  Caprimulgus 

14.  Alauda  : 

20.  Muscicapa. 


Most  soft-billed  birds  live  on  insects,  and  not  on  grain  and  seeds ; 
and  therefore  at  the  end  of  summer  they  retire  :  but  the  following 
soft-billed  birds,  though  insect-eaters,  stay  with  us  the  year  round  : 


Redbreast, 
Wren, 

Hedge-sparrow, 

White-wagtail,* 
Yellow-wagtail, 
Grey- wagtail, 

Wheat-ear,2 

Whin-chat, 
Stone-chatter,3 


RAII   NOMINA. 

Rubecula  : 
Passer  troglodytes 

Curruca  : 


Motacilla  alba  : 
Motacilla  flava  : 
Motacilla  cinerea 


Oenanthe : 

Oenanthe  secunda 
Oenanthe  tertia  : 


Golden-crowned  wren,          Regulus  cristatus  : 


( These  frequent    houses ;    and 
-j      haunt    outbuildings    in    the 

t     winter :    eat   spiders. 
/Haunt  sinks  for  crumbs  and 
\     other  sweepings. 

-'These  frequent  shallow  rivulets 

near  the  spring  heads,  where 

-(      they  never  freeze :    eat   the 

aureliae  of  Phryganea.     The 

v     smallest  birds  that  walk. 
/Some  of  these  are  to  be  seen 
\     with  us  the  winter  through. 


f  This  is  the  smallest  British  bird : 
-I  haunts  the  tops  of  tall  trees  ; 
^  stays  the  winter  through. 

A  Lisrrofthe  WINTER  BIRDS  of  PASSAGE  round  this  neighbourhood, 
ranged  somewhat  in  the  order  in  which  they  appear  : 

{This  is  a  new  migration  which 
I  have  lately  discovered  about 
Michaelmas  week,  and  again 
about  the  fourteenth  of 
March. 

1  [By  the  white  wagtail  White  means  our  common  pied  wagtail  (M.  lugubris, 
Temm.),  which  was  not  then  distinguished  from  our  white  wagtail  (M.  alba,  L.). 
What  species  are  to  be  understood  by  the  other  two  names  which  White  gives  we 
cannot  be  sure ;  by  the  yellow  wagtail  he  probably  means  our  grey  wagtail  (M. 
melanope,  Pall.) ;  see  note  on  Letter  XLIII.  to  Pennant.     By  grey  wagtail  it  is  not 
impossible  that  he  meant  the  young  of  the  pied  wagtail,  mistaking  them  for  a  differ- 
ent species.     Our  white  wagtail  is  an  uncommon  summer  visitant,  our  grey  wagtail 
a  resident,  our  yellow  wagtail  (M.  raii,  Bonap.)  a  summer  visitant.] 

2  [The  wheatear  is  a  summer  visitant.] 

3  [Most  of  our  stone-chats  migrate  before  winter.] 

4  [A  summer  visitant.] 


96  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

RAII  NOMINA. 

2.  Redwing,                           Turdus  iliacus  :  About  old  Michaelmas. 

3.  Fiddfare,                           Turin,  fUaris  :  IFZ&gSg*"* 

4.  Royston-crow,                  Comix  cinerea  :  Most  frequent  on  downs. 

5.  Woodcock,1                     Sc  olopax  :  Appears  about  old  Michaelmas. 

6.  Snipe,'                                Gallinago  minor  :  {  ^^^P65  constantly  breed 

7.  Jack-snipe,  Gallinago  minima  : 

8.  Wood-pigeon,3  Oena,  : 


9.  Wild-swan,  Cygnus  ferus  :  On  some  large  waters. 

10.  Wild-goose,  Anser  ferus  : 

11.  Wild-duck,4  Anas  tor  quata  minor  :\ 

12.  Pochard,6  Anas  f  era  fusca  : 

13.  Wigeon,  Penelope  :  f  On  our  lakes  and  streams. 


3  g£S*          23^*- 

17!  SUk!tail,v  '  ^rr*/^  A******,  : 

These  birds,  as  they  stand  numerically,  belong  to  the  following 
Linncean  genera  : 

i,  2,  3,  Turdus:  9,  10,  n,  12,  13,  14, 

4,  Corvus  :  Anas: 

5,  6,  7,  Scolopax  :  15,  16,  ^orz'a  : 
8,            Columba  :  17.  Ampelis. 


Birds  that  sing  in  the  night  are  but  few. 


«"«  hid'' 


Nightingale.  LuscMa:  {" 

Woodlark,  Alauda  arborea  :  Suspended  in  mid  air. 

Less  reed-sparrow.s  Paser  arundinacens    AmQng  reeds  and 


^ 

I  should  now  proceed  to  such  birds  as  continue  to  sing  after 
Midsummer,  but,  as  they  are  rather  numerous,  they  would  exceed 
the  bounds  of  this  paper  :  besides,  as  this  is  now  the  season  for 
remarking  on  that  subject,  I  am  willing  to  repeat  my  observations 

The  woodcock  is  a  resident  as  well  as  a  winter  visitant.] 

The  common  snipe  is  a  resident  as  well  as  a  winter  visitant.] 

Both  the  wood-pigeon  and  the  stock-dove  are  residents.] 

The  mallard  (Anas  boscas,  L.  )  is  a  resident  as  well  as  a  winter  visitant.] 

6  The  pochard  (Fuligulaferina,  L.)  is  a  resident  as  well  as  a  winter  visitant.] 
The  common  crossbill  (l^oxia  curvirostra,  L.  )  is  an  irregular  visitant,  chiefly  in 

autumn  and   winter.       White  has    "cross-beak   (Coccothraustes)  "    and   "  gross- 
bill  (Loxia)  ".] 

7  The  waxwing  (Ampelis  gar  rulus  ,  L.)  is  an  occasional  winter  visitant.] 

8  [The  sedge-  warbler  (Acrocephalus  phragmitis,  Bechst.).] 


OF  SELBOENE  97 

on  some  birds  concerning  the  continuation  of  whose  song  I  seem 
at  present  to  have  some  doubt. 

I  am,  &c. 


LETTER  II. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  Nov.  2,  1769. 
DEAR  SIR, 

WHEN  I  did  myself  the  honour  to  write  to  you  about  the  end  of 
last  June  on  the  subject  of  natural  history,  I  sent  you  a  list  of  the 
summer-birds  of  passage  which  I  have  observed  in  this  neighbour- 
hood ;  and  also  a  list  of  the  winter-birds  of  passage  :  I  mentioned 
besides  those  soft-billed  birds  that  stay  with  us  the  winter  through 
in  the  south  of  England,  and  those  that  are  remarkable  for  singing 
in  the  night. 

According  to  my  proposal,  I  shall  now  proceed  to  such  birds 
(singing  birds  strictly  so  called)  as  continue  in  full  song  till  after 
Midsummer  ;  and  shall  range  them  somewhat  in  the  order  in  which 
they  first  begin  to  open  as  the  spring  advances.1 

RAII   NOMINA. 

In  January,  and  continues  to 
sing  through  all  the  summer 
and  autumn. 


Scng-hrush, 

autumn. 

3.  Wren,  Passer  troglodytes  :          All  the  year,  hard  frost  excepted. 

4.  Redbreast,  Rubecula:  Ditto. 

5.  Hedge-sparrow,  Curruca  :  {  •§£•  F^uary  to  July  the 

(Early  in  February,  and  on 
through  July  to  August  the 
2  1  St. 

7.  Skylark,  Alauda  vulgaris  :  In  February,  and  on  to  October. 

8.  Swallow,  Hirundo  domestica  :        From  April  to  September. 

9.  Black-cap,  Atricapilla  :  Beginning  of  Apriltojulyi  3th. 

10.  Titlark,'  Alauda  pratorum  :      {**£  ^dle  of  A**1  to  W 

1  [The  list  that  follows  seems  to  be  the  result  of  only  one  year's  observation,  as  we 
may  gather  from  the  first  paragraph  of  the  next  letter.     The  same  method  carried 
over  a  series  of  years  would  no  doubt  have  modified  some  of  the  results  here  given 
as  to  dates,  etc.] 

2  [The  meadow  pipit  (Anthus  pratensis,  L.  ).    White  does  not  distinguish  between 
this  and  the  tree  pipit  (Anthus  trivialis,  L.).] 

7 


98 


THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 


11.  Blackbird, 

12.  White-throat, 

13.  Goldfinch, 

14.  Greenfinch, 

15.  Less  reed-sparrow,1 

16.  Common  linnet, 


RAII   NOMINA. 
Merula  vulgaris : 

Ficedulce  affinis : 
Carduelis : 

Chloris : 

f  Passer    arundinaceus  1 
\      minor : 


Linaria  vulgaris : 


{Sometimes  in  February  and 
March,  and  so  on  to  July  the 
twenty-third  ;  reassumes  in 
autumn. 

In  April  and  on  to  July  23. 
/April  and  through  to  September 
\     16. 
On  to  July  and  August  2. 

\May,  on  to  beginning  of  July. 

/'Breeds  and  whistles  on  till  Au- 
I     gust ;  reassumes  it's  note  when 
-|      they  begin  to  congregate  in 
October,  and  again  early  be- 
fore the  flock  separate. 


Birds  that  cease  to  be  in  full  song,  and  are  usually  silent  at  or 
before  Midsummer  : 


17.  Middle  willow- wren,2 

1 8.  Redstart, 

19.  Chaffinch, 

20.  Nightingale, 


of    June  ' 


Regulus  non  cristatus : 

Ruticilla  ;  Ditto  :  begins  in  May. 

Fringilla  :  {  B£$g«£f «•' !  si"*S  fet 

Luscinia  •  /Middle  of  June  :  sings  first  in 


\     April. 

Birds  that  sing  for  a  short  time,  and  very  early  in  the  spring : 


21.  Missel -bird, 


22.  Great  titmouse,  or  ox- 
eye. 


Turdus  viscivorus 


\  Fringillago : 


January  the  2d,  1770,  in  Febru- 
ary. Is  called  in  Hampshire 
and  Sussex  the  storm-cock, 
because  it's  song  is  supposed 
to  forebode  windy  wet  wea- 
ther :  is  the  largest  singing 
bird  we  have. 

I"  In  February,  March,  April :  re- 
assumes  for  a  short  time  in 

V.     September. 


Birds  that  have  somewhat  of  a  note  or  song,  and  yet  are  hardly 
to  be  called  singing  birds  : 


23.  Golden-crowned  wren,    Regulus  cristatus  : 

24.  Marsh  titmouse,  Parus  palustris  : 


It's  note  as  minute  as  it's  per- 
son ;  frequents  the  tops  of 
high  oaks  and  firs :  the  small- 
est British  bird. 

/  Haunts  great  woods :  two  harsh 

\     sharp  notes. 


1  [The  sedge- war  bier.] 

2  [The  willow-wren  (Phylloscopus  trochilus,  L.).] 


OF  SELBORNE 


99 


RAII   NOMINA. 


25.  Small  willow-wren,i        Regulus  non  cristatus  :  { 


26.  Largest  ditto,2 

27.  Grasshopper-lark, 

28.  Martin, 

29.  Bullfinch, 

30.  Bunting, 


Ditto : 


Hirundo  agrestis : 


$  Cantat  voce  stridula  locustee  ; 
from  end  of  April  to  August. 

<&?"'"•  ""fSA  3&  «oTe  ^1 
i     of  /*/y. 

/All  the  breeding  time;    from 
I      May  to  September. 

Pyrrhula  : 

Emberiza  alba  :  {  ^  ^  Cnd  °f  January  tO 


All  singing  birds,  and  those  that  have  any  pretensions  to  song, 
not  only  in  Britain,  but  perhaps  the  world  through,  come  under 
the  Unnaean  ordo  of  passeres. 

The  above-mentioned  birds,  as  they  stand  numerically,  belong 
to  the  following  Linncean  genera. 


1,  7.  io,  27. 

2,  II,  21. 

3,  4,  5,  9,  12,  15,         ) 
17,  18,  20,  23,  25,  26.  / 
6,  30. 


Alauda : 
Turdus : 

Motacilla  : 
Emberiza : 


8,  28. 

13,  16,  19. 

22.  24. 

14,  29. 


Hirundo. 
Fringilla. 

Parus. 
Loxia. 


Birds  that  sing  as  they  fly  are  but  few. 


Skylark, 
Titlark, 

Woodlark, 
Blackbird, 
White-throat, 

Swallow, 
Wren, 


Alauda  vulgaris : 
Alauda pratorum : 

Alauda  arborea  : 
Merula : 
Ficedula  affinis : 

Hirundo  domestica : 
Passer  troglodytes  : 


Rising,  suspended,  and  falling, 
fin  it's  descent ;  also  sitting  on 
trees,   and   walking  on   the 
t     ground. 

/  Suspended ;     in   hot    summer 
\     nights  all  night  long. 

Sometimes  from  bush  to  bush. 
(  Uses  when  singing  on  the  wing 
\  odd  jerks  and  gesticulations. 

In  soft  sunny  weather. 

Sometimes  from  bush  to  bush. 


Birds  that  breed  most  early  in  these  parts. 


Raven, 

Song-thrush, 

Blackbird, 

Rook, 

Woodlark, 

Ring-dove, 


Corvus : 

Turdus : 

Merula  : 

Cornix  frugilega  : 

Alauda  arborea : 

Palumbus  torquatus , 


( Hatches    in      February     and 
\     March. 

In  March. 

In  March. 

Builds  the  beginning  of  March. 

Hatches  in  April. 

Lays  the  beginning  of  April.3 


1  [The  chiffchaff  (P.  rufus,  Bechst.).] 

2  [The  wood- wren  (P.  sibilatrix,  Bechst.).] 


3  ["  To  this  list  might  have  been  added  the  robin,  since  it  not  unfrequently  nests 
January  during  mild  winters." — Harting.~\ 


100  THE  NATURAL  HISTOEY 

All  birds  that  continue  in  full  song  till  after  Midsummer  appear 
to  me  to  breed  more  than  once. 

Most  kinds  of  birds  seem  to  me  to  be  wild  and  shy  somewhat 
in  proportion  to  their  bulk  ;  I  mean  in  this  island,  where  they  are 
much  pursued  and  annoyed  :  but  in  Ascension  Island,  and  many 
other  desolate  places,  mariners  have  found  fowls  so  unacquainted 
with  an  human  figure,  that  they  would  stand  still  to  be  taken  ;  as 
is  the  case  with  boobies,  &c.  As  an  example  of  what  is  advanced, 
I  remark  that  the  golden-crested  wren  (the  smallest  British  bird) 
will  stand  unconcerned  till  you  come  within  three  or  four  yards 
of  it,  while  the  bustard  (otis),  the  largest  British  land  fowl,  does 
not  care  to  admit  a  person  within  so  many  furlongs. 

I  am,  &c. 


LETTER  III. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  Jan.  15,  1770. 
DEAR  SIR, 

IT  was  no  small  matter  of  satisfaction  to  me  to  find  that  you  were 
not  displeased  with  my  little  methodm-  of  birds.  If  there  was  any 
merit  in  the  sketch,  it  must  be  owing  to  it's  punctuality.  For 
many  months  I  carried  a  list  in  my  pocket  of  the  birds  that  were 
to  be  remarked,  and,  as  I  rode  or  walked  about  my  business,  I 
noted  each  day  the  continuance  or  omission  of  each  bird's  song ; 
so  that  I  am  as  sure  of  the  certainty  of  my  facts  as  a  man  can  be 
of  any  transaction  whatsoever. 

I  shall  now  proceed  to  answer  the  several  queries  which  you 
put  in  your  two  obliging  letters,  in  the  best  manner  that  I  am 
able.  Perhaps  Eastwick,  and  it's  environs,  where  you  heard  so 
very  few  birds,  is  not  a  woodland  country,  and  therefore  not 
stocked  with  such  songsters.  If  you  will  cast  your  eye  on  my 
last  letter,  you  will  find  that  many  species  continued  to  warble 
after  the  beginning  of  July. 

The  titlark  and  yellowhammer  breed  late,  the  latter  very  late  ; 
and  therefore  it  is  no  wonder  that  they  protract  their  song  :  for 
I  lay  it  down  as  a  maxim  in  ornithology,  that  as  long  as  there  is 
any  incubation  going  on  there  is  music.  As  to  the  redbreast  and 
wren,  it  is  well  known  to  the  most  incurious  observer  that  they 
whistle  the  year  round,  hard  frost  excepted  ;  especially  the  latter. 


OF  SELBORNE 

It  was  not  in  my  power  to  procure  you  a  black-cap,  or  a  less 
reed-sparrow,  or  sedge-bird,  alive.  As  the  first  is  undoubtedly,  and 
the  last,  as  far  as  I  can  yet  see,  a  summer  bird  of  passage,  they 
would  require  more  nice  and  curious  management  in  a  cage  than 
I  should  be  able  to  give  them :  they  are  both  distinguished 
songsters.  The  note  of  the  former  has  such  a  wild  sweetness 
that  it  always  brings  to  my  mind  those  lines  in  a  song  in  "  As 
You  Like  It ". 

' '  And  tune  his  merry  note 

"  Unto  the  wild  bird's  throat."        SHAKESPEARE. 

The  latter  has  a  surprising  variety  of  notes  resembling  the 
song  of  several  other  birds ;  but  then  it  has  also  an  hurrying 
manner,  not  at  all  to  it's  advantage :  it  is  notwithstanding  a 
delicate  polyglot. 

It  is  new  to  me  that  titlarks  in  cages  sing  in  the  night ; 
perhaps  only  caged  birds  do  so.  I  once  knew  a  tame  redbreast 
in  a  cage  that  always  sang  as  long  as  candles  were  in  the  room ; 
but  in  their  wild  state  no  one  supposes  they  sing  in  the  night. 

I  should  be  almost  ready  to  doubt  the  fact,  that  there  are  to 
be  seen  much  fewer  birds  in  July  than  in  any  former  month, 
notwithstanding  so  many  young  are  hatched  daily.  Sure  I  am 
that  it  is  far  otherwise  with  respect  to  the  swallow  tribe,  which 
increases  prodigiously  as  the  summer  advances  :  and  I  saw,  at 
the  time  mentioned,  many  hundreds  of  young  wagtails  on  the 
banks  of  the  Cherrvell,  which  almost  covered  the  meadows.  If 
the  matter  appears  as  you  say  in  the  other  species,  may  it  not  be 
owing  to  the  dams  being  engaged  in  incubation,  while  the  young 
are  concealed  by  the  leaves  ? 

Many  times  have  I  had  the  curiosity  to  open  the  stomachs  of 
woodcocks  and  snipes ;  but  nothing  ever  occurred  that  helped  to 
explain  to  me  what  their  subsistence  might  be :  all  that  I  could 
ever  find  was  a  soft  mucus,  among  which  lay  many  pellucid  small 
gravels.1 

I  am,  &c. 

1  [Mr.  Harting  in  his  note  on  this  passage  refers  to  some  valuable  observations 
on  the  contents  of  the  stomachs  of  woodcocks  in  Thompson's  Birds  of  Ireland, 
vol.  ii. ,  p.  239,  and  adds,  by  way  of  explaining  the  soft  mucus  to  which  White 
refers:  "The  vegetable  matter,  of  which  there  is  often  a  considerable  quantity, 
probably  remains  intact  after  the  gastric  juice  has  acted  on  the  worms  and  other 
animal  food,  and  thus  appears  disproportionate  to  the  other  contents ".  On  the 
other  hand,  Sedgwick  (Textbook  oj c  Zoology,  p.  237)  says:  "It  maybe  of  interest 
to  gourmets  to  know  that  the  trail  of  a  woodcock  largely  consists  of  distomic 
trematodes"  (parasitic  flat-worms).] 


102  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

LETTER  IV. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  Feb.  19,  1770. 
DEAR  SIR, 

YOUR  observation  that  "the  cuckoo  does  not  deposit  it's  egg 
"  indiscriminately  in  the  nest  of  the  first  bird  that  comes  in  it's 
"  way,  but  probably  looks  out  a  nurse  in  some  degree  congenerous, 
"with  whom  to  intrust  it's  young,"  is  perfectly  new  to  me  ;  and 
struck  me  so  forcibly,  that  I  naturally  tell  into  a  train  of  thought 
that  led  me  to  consider  whether  the  fact  was  so,  and  what 
reason  there  was  for  it.  When  I  came  to  recollect  and  inquire, 
I  could  not  find  that  any  cuckoo  had  ever  been  seen  in  these 
parts,  except  in  the  nest  of  the  wagtail,  the  hedge-sparrow,  the 
titlark,  the  white-throat,  and  the  redbreast,  all  soft-billed  insecti- 
vorous birds.  The  excellent  Mr.  Willughby  mentions  the  nest 
of  the  palumbus  (ring-dove),  and  of  the  J'ringilla  (chaffinch},  birds 
that  subsist  on  acorns  and  grains,  and  such  hard  food  :  but  then 
he  does  not  mention  them  as  of  his  own  knowledge ;  but  says 
afterwards  that  he  saw  himself  a  wagtail  feeding  a  cuckoo.1  It 
appears  hardly  possible  that  a  soft-billed  bird  should  subsist  on 
the  same  food  with  the  hard-billed :  for  the  former  have  thin 
membranaceous  stomachs  suited  to  their  soft  food ;  while  the 
latter,  the  granivorous  tribe,  have  strong  muscular  gizzards, 
which,  like  mills,  grind,  by  the  help  of  small  gravels  and  pebbles, 
what  is  swallowed.  This  proceeding  of  the  cuckoo,  of  dropping 
it's  eggs  as  it  were  by  chance,  is  such  a  monstrous  outrage  on 
maternal  affection,  one  of  the  first  great  dictates  of  nature ;  and 
such  a  violence  on  instinct ;  that,  had  it  only  been  related  of 
a  bird  in  the  Brazils,  or  Peru,  it  would  never  have  merited  our 
belief.  But  yet,  should  it  farther  appear  that  this  simple  bird, 
when  divested  of  that  natural  arropy^  that  seems  to  raise  the  kind 
in  general  above  themselves,  and  inspire  them  with  extraordinary 
degrees  of  cunning  and  address,  may  be  still  endued  with  a  more 
enlarged  faculty  of  discerning  what  species  are  suitable  and  con- 

1  [The  list  of  birds  in  whose  nests  the  cuckoo  is  now  known  to  deposit  her  eggs 
is  very  large  ;  Mr.  Bidwell  has  brought  it  up  to  120  in  the  Bulletin  of  the  British 
Ornithological  Club  for  March,  1896.  The  more  usual  victims  are  insect-eating 
birds,  such  as  those  White  mentions ;  but  almost  all  our  common  seed-eating 
birds  are  occasionally  duped.  These,  however,  it  should  be  noted,  feed  their 
own  young  largely  on  caterpillars  and  other  insects.] 


OF  SELBORNE  103 

generous  nursing-mothers  for  it's  disregarded  eggs  and  young, 
and  may  deposit  them  only  under  their  care,1  this  would  be  add- 
ing wonder  to  wonder,  and  instancing,  in  a  fresh  manner,  that 
the  methods  of  Providence  are  not  subjected  to  any  mode  or 
rule,  but  astonish  us  in  new  lights,  and  in  various  and  changeable 
appearances. 

What  was  said  by  a  very  ancient  and  sublime  writer  concern- 
ing the  defect  of  natural  affection  in  the  ostrich,  may  be  well 
applied  to  the  bird  we  are  talking  of: 

"  She  is  hardened  against  her  young  ones,  as  though  they  were  not 
" hers : 

"  Because  God  hath  deprived  her  of  wisdom,  neither  hath  he  im- 
" parted  to  her  understanding."  2 

Query.  Does  each  female  cuckoo  lay  but  one  egg  in  a  season, 
or  does  she  drop  several  in  different  nests  according  as  oppor- 
tunity offers  ?  3 

I  am,  &c. 

LETTER  V. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  April  12,  1770. 
DEAR  SIR, 

I  HEARD  many  birds  of  several  species  sing  last  year  after  Mid- 
summer ;  enough  to  prove  that  the  summer  solstice  is  not  the 
period  that  puts  a  stop  to  the  music  of  the  woods.  The  yellow- 
hammer  no  doubt  persists  with  more  steadiness  than  any  other ; 
but  the  woodlark,  the  wren,  the  redbreast,  the  swallow,  the 
white-throat,  the  goldfinch,  the  common  linnet,  are  all  undoubted 
instances  of  the  truth  of  what  I  advanced. 

1  [It  is  now  regarded  as  probable  that  each  cuckoo  deposits  her  egg  always  in  a 
nest  of  the  same  species,  and  that  species  the  one  to  which  that  individual  cuckoo 
(and  her  progenitors)  were  indebted  for  nurture  ;  further,  that  her  egg  as  a  rule, 
though  not  invariably,  more  or  less  resembles  those  of  the  victim.] 

2  Job  xxxix.  16,  17. 

3  [This  question  has  not  yet  been  certainly  answered  ;  but  the  general  result  of 
the  evidence  seems  to  be  that  one  cuckoo  lays  five  eggs,  or  sometimes  one  or  two 
more,  in  a  season.     See  A.  H.  Evans'  Birds  (1898),  p.  354. 

White  does  not  mention  Jenner's  paper  on  the  cuckoo  in  the  Phil.  Trans, 
for  1788,  which  appeared  after  the  foregoing  letter  was  written,  but  before  its 
publication.  This  celebrated  paper  contains  the  most  important  observations 
hitherto  made  on  the  habits  of  the  cuckoo.  The  chief  results  of  more  recent 
inquiry  will  be  found  in  Harting's  Summer  Migrants,  and  in  Newton's  Dictionary 
of  Birds.] 


104  THE  NATURAL  HISTOEY 

If  this  severe  season  does  not  interrupt  the  regularity  of  the 
summer  migrations,  the  blackcap  will  be  here  in  two  or  three 
days.  I  wish  it  was  in  my  power  to  procure  you  one  of  those 
songsters ;  but  I  am  no  birdcatcher ;  and  so  little  used  to  birds 
in  a  cage,  that  I  fear  if  I  had  one  it  would  soon  die  for  want  of 
skill  in  feeding. 

Was  your  reed-sparrow,  which  you  kept  in  a  cage,  the  thick- 
billed  reed-sparrow  of  the  Zoology,  p.  320  ;  or  was  it  the  less 
reed-sparrow  of  Ray,  the  sedge-bird  of  Mr.  Pennant's  last  publica- 
tion, p.  16? 

As  to  the  matter  of  long-billed  birds  growing  fatter  in  moderate 
frosts,  I  have  no  doubt  within  myself  what  should  be  the  reason. 
The  thriving  at  those  times  appears  to  me  to  arise  altogether 
from  the  gentle  check  which  the  cold  throws  upon  insensible 
perspiration.  The  case  is  just  the  same  with  blackbirds, 
&c. ;  and  farmers  and  warreners  observe,  the  first,  that  their 
hogs  fat  more  kindly  at  such  times,  and  the  latter  that  their 
rabbits  are  never  in  such  good  case  as  in  a  gentle  frost.  But 
when  frosts  are  severe,  and  of  long  continuance,  the  case  is  soon 
altered  ;  for  then  a  want  of  food  soon  overbalances  the  repletion 
occasioned  by  a  checked  perspiration.  I  have  observed,  more- 
over, that  some  human  constitutions  are  more  inclined  to  plump- 
ness in  winter  than  in  summer. 

When  birds  come  to  suffer  by  severe  frost,  I  find  that  the  first 
that  fail  and  die  are  the  redwing-fieldfares,  and  then  the  song- 
thrushes. 

You  wonder,  with  good  reason,  that  the  hedge-sparrows,  &c., 
can  be  induced  at  all  to  sit  on  the  egg  of  the  cuckoo  without 
being  scandalized  at  the  vast  disproportioned  size  of  the  sup- 
posititious egg ; 1  but  the  brute  creation,  I  suppose,  have  very 
little  idea  of  size,  colour,  or  number.  For  the  common  hen,  I 
know,  when  the  fury  of  incubation  is  on  her,  will  sit  on  a  single 
shapeless  stone  instead  of  a  nest  full  of  eggs  that  have  been 
withdrawn :  and,  moreover,  a  hen-turkey,  in  the  same  circum- 
stances, would  sit  on  in  the  empty  nest  till  she  perished  with 
hunger. 

I   think  the  matter  might  easily  be  determined  whether  a 

1  [It  is  singular  that  White  should  have  written  as  if  he  were  not  aware  of  the 
very  small  size  of  the  cuckoo's  egg  in  proportion  to  that  of  the  bird.  In  many 
cases  it  is  not  easy  at  a  glance  to  distinguish  the  supposititious  egg ;  for  which 
reason  it  is  probable  that  the  blue  eggs  which  the  cuckoo  is  now  known  sometimes 
to  lay  often  escape  detection  in  the  nests  of  the  hedge-sparrow.] 


OF  SELBORNE  105 

cuckoo  lays  one  or  two  eggs,  or  more,  in  a  season,  by  opening 
a  female  during  the  laying-time.  If  more  than  one  was  come 
down  out  of  the  ovary,  and  advanced  to  a  good  size,  doubtless  then 
she  would  that  spring  lay  more  than  one.1 

I  will  endeavour  to  get  a  hen,  and  to  examine. 

Your  supposition  that  there  may  be  some  natural  obstruction 
in  singing  birds  while  they  are  mute,  and  that  when  this  is 
removed  the  song  recommences,  is  new  and  bold :  I  wish  you 
could  discover  some  good  grounds  for  this  suspicion. 

I  was  glad  you  were  pleased  with  my  specimen  of  the  capri- 
mulgus,  or  fern-owl ; 2  you  were,  I  find,  acquainted  with  the  bird 
before. 

When  we  meet,  I  shall  be  glad  to  have  some  conversation  with 
you  concerning  the  proposal  you  make  of  my  drawing  up  an 
account  of  the  animals  in  this  neighbourhood.  Your  partiality 
towards  my  small  abilities  persuades  you,  I  fear,  that  I  am  able 
to  do  more  than  is  in  my  power :  for  it  is  no  small  undertaking 
for  a  man  unsupported  and  alone  to  begin  a  natural  history  from 
his  own  autopsia  !  Though  there  is  endless  room  for  observation 
in  the  field  of  nature,  which  is  boundless,  yet  investigation 
(where  a  man  endeavours  to  be  sure  of  his  facts)  can  make  but 
slow  progress ;  and  all  that  one  could  collect  in  many  years 
would  go  into  a  very  narrow  compass. 

Some  extracts  from  your  ingenious  "  Investigations  of  the 
difference  between  the  present  temperature  of  the  air  in  Italy," 
&c.,  have  fallen  in  my  way  ;  and  gave  me  great  satisfaction  : 
they  have  removed  the  objections  that  always  arose  in  my  mind 
whenever  I  came  to  the  passages  which  you  quote.  Surely  the 
judicious  Virgil,  when  writing  a  didactic  poem  for  the  region  of 
Italy,  could  never  think  of  describing  freezing  rivers,  unless  such 
severity  of  weather  pretty  frequently  occurred  ! 

P.S.     Swallows  appear  amidst  snows  and  frost. 


1  [In  the  cuckoo,  as  in  other  birds,  only  one  egg  is  found  in  the  oviduct  at  one 
time.     Anatomical  examination  does  not  settle  the  question.] 

2  [The  nightjar  or  goatsucker,  also  called  churn-owl,  puckeridge,  and  wheel- 
bird.] 


106  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

LETTER  VI. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  May  ai,  1770. 
DEAR  SIR, 

THE  severity  and  turbulence  of  last  month  so  interrupted  the 
regular  process  of  summer  migration,  that  some  of  the  birds  do 
but  just  begin  to  shew  themselves,  and  others  are  apparently 
thinner  than  usual ;  as  the  white-throat,  the  black-cap,  the  red- 
start, the  fly-catcher.  I  well  remember  that  after  the  very 
severe  spring  in  the  year  1739-4-0  summer  birds  of  passage  were 
very  scarce.  They  come  probably  hither  with  a  south-east 
wind,  or  when  it  blows  between  those  points ; 1  but  in  that 
unfavourable  year  the  winds  blowed  the  whole  spring  and 
summer  through  from  the  opposite  quarters.  And  yet  amidst 
all  these  disadvantages  two  swallows,  as  I  mentioned  in  my  last, 
appeared  this  year  as  early  as  the  eleventh  of  April  amidst  frost 
and  snow ;  but  they  withdrew  again  for  a  time. 

I  am  not  pleased  to  find  that  some  people  seem  so  little 
satisfied  with  Scopoli's  new  publication  ; 2  there  is  room  to  expect 
great  things  from  the  hands  of  that  man,  who  is  a  good  natur- 
alist :  and  one  would  think  that  an  history  of  the  birds  of  so 
distant  and  southern  a  region  as  Carniola  would  be  new  and 
interesting.  I  could  wish  to  see  that  work,  and  hope  to  get  it 
sent  down.  Dr.  Scopoli  is  physician  to  the  wretches  that  work 
in  the  quicksilver  mines  of  that  district. 

When  you  talked  of  keeping  a  reed-sparrow,  and  giving  it 
seeds,  I  could  not  help  wondering ;  because  the  reed-sparrow 
which  I  mentioned  to  you  (passer  arundinaceus  minor  Rail)  3  is  a 
soft-billed  bird ;  and  most  probably  migrates  hence  before 
winter ;  whereas  the  bird  you  kept  (passer  torquatus  Raii)  4  abides 
all  the  year,  and  is  a  thick-billed  bird.  I  question  whether  the 
latter  be  much  of  a  songster ;  but  in  this  matter  I  want  to  be 
better  informed.  The  former  has  a  variety  of  hurrying  notes, 
and  sings  all  night.  Some  part  of  the  song  of  the  former,  I 

1  [We  now  know  that  migrating  birds  prefer  a  wind  on  the  beam  rather  than  one 
astern ;  the  latter,  if  strong,  would  interfere  both  with  their  comfort  and  their 
steering  power.] 

2  This  work  he  calls  his  Annus  Primus  Historico  Naturalis. 

3  [The  sedge- warbler.] 

4  [The  reed-bunting  (Emberiza  schoeniclus,  L.).] 


OF  SELBORNE  107 

suspect,  is  attributed  to  the  latter.  We  have  plenty  of  the 
soft-billed  sort ;  which  Mr.  Pennant  had  entirely  left  out  of  his 
British  Zoology,  till  I  reminded  him  of  his  omission.  See  British 
Zoology  last  published,  p.  16.1 

I  have  somewhat  to  advance  on  the  different  manners  in  which 
different  birds  fly  and  walk  ;  but  as  this  is  a  subject  that  I  have 
not  enough  considered,  and  is  of  such  a  nature  as  not  to  be 
contained  in  a  small  space,  I  shall  say  nothing  further  about  it 
at  present.2 

No  doubt  the  reason  why  the  sex  of  birds  in  their  first  plumage 
is  so  difficult  to  be  distinguished  is,  as  you  say,  "  because  they 
"  are  not  to  pair  and  discharge  their  parental  functions  till  the 
"ensuing  spring".  As  colours  seem  to  be  the  chief  external 
sexual  distinction  in  many  birds,  these  colours  do  not  take  place 
till  sexual  attachments  begin  to  obtain.3  And  the  case  is  the 
same  in  quadrupeds ;  among  whom,  in  their  younger  days,  the 
sexes  differ  but  little  :  but,  as  they  advance  to  maturity,  horns 
and  shaggy  manes,  beards  and  brawny  necks,  &c.  &c.  strongly 
discriminate  the  male  from  the  female.  We  may  instance  still 
farther  in  our  own  species,  where  a  beard  and  stronger  features 
are  usually  characteristic  of  the  male  sex  :  but  this  sexual  diversity 
does  not  take  place  in  earlier  life ;  for  a  beautiful  youth  shall  be 
so  like  a  beautiful  girl  that  the  difference  shall  not  be  discernible  ; 

"  Quern  si  puellarum  insereres  choro, 

"  Mir6  sagaces  falleret  hospites 

"  Discrimen  obscurum,  solutis 

"  Crinibus,  ambiguoque  vultu. "         HOR.4 


1  See  letter  xxv.  to  Mr.  Pennant. 

2  See  letter  xlii.  to  Mr.  Harrington. 

3  [White  seems  to  have  regarded  sexual  colouration  in  birds  only  as  a  distinction 
of  the  sexes,  without  discerning  its  use  either  as  attractive  in  the  male  or  protective 
in  the  female  when  sitting.     Yet  he  was  aware  of  the  use  of  the  peacock's  train  in 
attracting  the  peahen  (see   Letter   XXXV.   to  Pennant),  and  of  the  protective 
colouration  of  the  young  stone-curlews  (Letter  XVI.  to  Pennant).     Here,  as  often 
elsewhere,  he  gets  upon  a  good  train  of  thought,  without  following  it  up  ;  but  every 
naturalist  needs  the  help  of  the  ideas  of  others,  and  White  stood  alone  in  England 
as  a  real  student  of  nature.] 

*[Carm.,  II.,  v.] 


108  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 


DEAR  SIR, 


LETTER  VII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Ringmer,  near  Lewes,1  Oct.  8,  1770. 


I  AM  glad  to  hear  that  Kuckalm  is  to  furnish  you  with  the  birds 
of  Jamaica  ;  a  sight  of  the  hirundines  of  that  hot  and  distant  island 
would  be  a  great  entertainment  to  me.2 

The  Anni  of  Scopoli  are  now  in  my  possession  ;  and  I  have  read 
the  Annus  Primus  with  satisfaction  :  for  though  some  parts  of  this 
work  are  exceptionable,  and  he  may  advance  some  mistaken  obser- 
vations ;  yet  the  ornithology  of  so  distant  a  country  as  Carniola 
is  very  curious.  Men  that  undertake  only  one  district  are  much 
more  likely  to  advance  natural  knowledge  than  those  that  grasp 
at  more  than  they  can  possibly  be  acquainted  with :  every  king- 
dom, every  province,  should  have  it's  own  monographer. 

The  reason  perhaps  why  he  mentions  nothing  of  Ray's 
Ornithology  may  be  the  extreme  poverty  and  distance  of  his 
country,  into  which  the  works  of  our  great  naturalist  may  have 
never  yet  found  their  way.  You  have  doubts,  I  know,  whether 
this  Ornithology  is  genuine,  and  really  the  work  of  Scopoli :  as 
to  myself,  I  think  I  discover  strong  tokens  of  authenticity ;  the 
style  corresponds  with  that  of  his  Entomology ;  and  his  characters 
of  his  Ordines  and  Genera  are  many  of  them  new,  expressive, 
and  masterly.  He  has  ventured  to  alter  some  of  the  Linncean 
genera  with  sufficient  shew  of  reason. 

It  might  perhaps  be  mere  accident  that  you  saw  so  many 
swifts  and  no  swallows  at  Staines ;  because,  in  my  long  obser- 
vation of  those  birds,  I  never  could  discover  the  least  degree  of 
rivalry  or  hostility  between  the  species. 

Ray  remarks  that  birds  of  the  gallince  order,  as  cocks  and  hens, 
partridges,  and  pheasants,  &c.  are  pulveratrices,  such  as  dust 
themselves,  using  that  method  of  cleansing  their  feathers,  and 
ridding  themselves  of  their  vermin.  As  far  as  I  can  observe,  many 
birds  that  dust  themselves  never  wash  :  and  I  once  thought  that 

1  [The  residence  of  Gilbert  White's  aunt,  Mrs.  Snooke.     On  her  death  in  1780 
the  property  descended  to  him.] 

2  [Gosse's  Birds  of  Jamaica  (1847)  at  length  supplied  the  want  here  indicated. 
It  does  not  seem  that  Kuckalm  did  anything  to  justify  Harrington's  anticipation  ;  a 
paper  of  his  on  the  preservation  of  dead  birds  is  printed  in  the  Phil.  Trans.  (1770).] 


OF  SELBORNE  109 

those  birds  that  wash  themselves  would  never  dust ;  but  here  I 
find  myself  mistaken ;  for  common  house-sparrows  are  great 
pulveratrices,  being  frequently  seen  grovelling  and  wallowing  in 
dusty  roads  ;  and  yet  they  are  great  washers.  Does  not  the 
skylark  dust  ? 

Query.  Might  not  Mahomet  and  his  followers  take  one  method 
of  purification  from  these  pulveratrices  ?  because  I  find  from  tra- 
vellers of  credit,  that  if  a  strict  mussulman  is  journeying  in  a 
sandy  desert  where  no  water  is  to  be  found,  at  stated  hours  he 
strips  off  his  clothes,  and  most  scrupulously  rubs  his  body  over 
with  sand  or  dust. 

A  countryman  told  me  he  had  found  a  young  fern-owl  in  the 
nest  of  a  small  bird  on  the  ground ;  and  that  it  was  fed  by  the 
little  bird.  I  went  to  see  this  extraordinary  phenomenon,  and 
found  that  it  was  a  young  cuckoo  hatched  in  the  nest  of  a  titlark  : 
it  was  become  vastly  too  big  for  it's  nest,  appearing 

" in  tenui  re 

"  Majores  pennas  nido  extendisse "  x 

and  was  very  fierce  and  pugnacious,  pursuing  my  finger,  as  I 
teazed  it,  for  many  feet  from  the  nest,  and  sparring  and  buffetting 
with  it's  wings  like  a  game-cock.  The  dupe  of  a  dam  appeared 
at  a  distance,  hovering  about  with  meat  in  it's  mouth,  and  ex- 
pressing the  greatest  solicitude. 

In  July  I  saw  several  cuckoos  skimming  over  a  large  pond  ; 
and  found,  after  some  observation,  that  they  were  feeding  on  the 
libellulce,  or  dragon-flies;  some  of  which  they  caught  as  they 
settled  on  the  weeds,  and  some  as  they  were  on  the  wing. 
Notwithstanding  what  Linnceus  says,2  I  cannot  be  induced  to 
believe  that  they  are  birds  of  prey. 

^Hor.,  Bp.  I.,  20,  ai.] 

2  [In  the  Systema  Natures,  under  Cuculus  canorus,  Linnaeus  gives  the  following 
account  of  its  habits:  "Coccyx,  incubandi  ipse  impotens,  semper  parit  in  alienis 
nidis,  imprimis  in  Motacillae,  majori  ex  parte  singula  ova,  auferatis  prioribus. 
Educat  subditum  adulterate  foeta  nido  et  sequitur  nutrix  fidelissima  mensibus 
aestatis  pulcherrimis  frondescentiae,  florescentiae,  grossificationis,  dum  ille  aridis 
insidens  arborum  ramis  famelicus  semper  cuculans  advocat  nutricem,  donee  sub 
ortu  caniculae  ingratus  earn  occidat  devoretque,  unde  orbus  victitet  rapina  Avicularum 
Larvisque  Brassicae  aliarumque;  non  tamen  in  Falconem  transformatur  "  (i2thed. 
(1766),  vol.  i.,  p.  168). 

"  The  cuckoo,  being  unable  to  sit  her  own  eggs,  always  lays  them  in  the  nests 
of  other  birds,  especially  of  wagtails,  for  the  most  part  one  by  one,  after  removing 
any  that  were  there  before.  The  attentive  foster-parent  brings  up  the  supposititious 
chick,  and  waits  upon  it  through  the  fairest  months  of  summer,  the  seasons  of 
fresh  leaves,  flowers  and  berries.  During  all  this  time  the  voracious  cuckoo  perched 


110  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

This  district  affords  some  birds  that  are  hardly  ever  heard  of  at 
Selborne.  In  the  first  place  considerable  flocks  of  cross-beaks  l 
(loxice  curvirostrce)  have  appeared  this  summer  in  the  pine-groves 
belonging  to  this  house;2  the  water-ousel*  is  said  to  haunt  the 
mouth  of  the  Lewes  river,  near  NewJiaven  ;  and  the  Cornish  chough  4 
builds,  I  know,  all  along  the  chalky  cliffs  of  the  Sussex  shore. 

I  was  greatly  pleased  to  see  little  parties  of  ring-ousels  (my 
newly  discovered  migraters)  scattered,  at  intervals,  all  along 
the  Sussex  downs  from  Chichester  to  Lewes.  Let  them  come  from 
whence  they  will,  it  looks  very  suspicious  that  they  are  cantoned 
along  the  coast  in  order  to  pass  the  channel  when  severe  weather 
advances.  They  visit  us  again  in  April,  as  it  should  seem,  in 
their  return  ;  and  are  not  to  be  found  in  the  dead  of  winter.  It 
is  remarkable  that  they  are  very  tame,  and  seem  to  have  no 
manner  of  apprehensions  of  danger  from  a  person  with  a  gun. 
There  are  bustards  on  the  wide  downs  near  Brighthelmstonef  No 
doubt  you  are  acquainted  with  the  Sussex  downs  :  the  prospects 
and  rides  round  Lewes  are  most  lovely ! 

As  I  rode  along  near  the  coast  I  kept  a  very  sharp  look  out  in 
the  lanes  and  woods,  hoping  I  might,  at  this  time  of  the  year, 
have  discovered  some  of  the  summer  short-winged  birds  of 
passage  crowding  towards  the  coast  in  order  for  their  departure  : 
but  it  was  very  extraordinary  that  I  never  saw  a  redstart,  white- 
throat,  black-cap,  uncrested  wren,  fly-catcher,  &c.6  And  I  re- 

on  bare  boughs  incessantly  summons  her  by  his  cry  of  cuckoo.  At  last,  in  mid- 
summer, he  rewards  her  by  killing  and  eating  her.  When  thus  deprived  of  her 
care,  he  gets  a  living  by  preying  upon  small  birds  and  insect-larvae,  such  as  that 
of  the  cabbage  butterfly ;  it  is  not  true,  however,  that  he  is  transformed  into  a 
hawk."] 

1  [See  Letter  XVII.  to  Harrington.] 
The  letter  is  dated  from  Ringmer,  near  Lewes.] 

3  [The  water-ouzel,  or  dipper  (Cinclus  aquaticus,  Bechst.),  is  a  rare  visitor  to 
south-eastern  England.] 

4  [See  Letter  XXXIX.  to  Pennant.] 

5  [Mr.  Hartinghas  the  following  note  :  "The  great  bustard  has  long  ceased  to 
frequent  the  South  Downs  except  as  a  rare  and  accidental  visitant.    Amongst  various 
extracts  from  Gilbert  White's  MS.  diary,  published  by  Mr.  Jesse  in  the  second 
series  of  his  Gleanings  in   Natural  History,  is  one  (p.   164)  wherein  the  author 
states  that  on  November  17,  1782,  he  spent  three  hours  at  a  lone  farmhouse  in  the 
midst  of  the  downs  between  Andover  and  Winton,  where  'the  carter  told  us  that 
about  twelve  years  ago  he  had  seen  a  flock  of  eighteen  bustards  at  one  time  on  that 
farm,  and  once  since  only  two '.     Further  on  (p.  180)  he  adds  :  '  Bustards  when 
seen  on  the  downs  resemble  fallow-deer  at  a  distance '  ". 

The  bustard  is  now  extinct  in  the  British  Isles,  except  as  a  rare  casual  visitant.] 

6  [White  does  not  mention  the  exact  date  of  his  ride  near  the  coast ;    but  his 
letter  is  dated  October  8.     If  the  ride  was  early  in  October,  he  might  well  have 
been  too  late  for  the  mass  of  redstarts,  etc.,  which  are  usually  gone  by  the  end  of 


OF  SELBORNE  111 

member  to  have  made  the  same  remark  in  former  years,  as  I 
usually  come  to  this  place  annually  about  this  time.  The  birds 
most  common  along  the  coast  at  present  are  the  stone-chatters, 
whinchats,  buntings,  linnets,  some  few  wheat-ears,  titlarks,  &c. 
Swallows  and  house-martins  abound  yet,  induced  to  prolong 
their  stay  by  this  soft,  still,  dry  season. 

A  land  tortoise,  which  has  been  kept  for  thirty  years  in  a  little 
walled  court  belonging  to  the  house  where  I  now  am  visiting, 
retires  under  ground  about  the  middle  of  November,  and  comes 
forth  again  about  the  middle  of  April.1  When  it  first  appears 
in  the  spring  it  discovers  very  little  inclination  towards  food ; 
but  in  the  height  of  summer  grows  voracious :  and  then  as  the 
summer  declines  it's  appetite  declines ;  so  that  for  the  last  six 
weeks  in  autumn  it  hardly  eats  at  all.  Milky  plants,  such  as  let- 
tuces, dandelions,  sowthistles,  are  it's  favourite  dish.  In  a  neigh- 
bouring village  one  was  kept  till  by  tradition  it  was  supposed  to 
be  an  hundred  years  old.  An  instance  of  vast  longevity  in  such 
a  poor  reptile ! 


LETTER  VIII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  Dec.  20,  1770. 
DEAR  SIR, 

THE  birds  that  I  took  for  aberdavines  2  were  reed-sparrows  (passeres 
torquati). 

There  are  doubtless  many  home  internal  migrations  within  this 

September,  leaving  only  a  few  stragglers.  Even  on  September  24,  at  Bexhill,  also 
on  the  Sussex  coast,  the  writer  of  this  note  saw  none  of  these  birds,  only  those 
species  mentioned  by  White,  viz.,  linnets,  pipits,  stonechats,  wheat-ears,  etc.  See 
p.  277  of  Summer  Studies  of  Birds  and  Books. 

By  "  uncreated  wren  "  White  probably  means  chiffchaff,  willow- wren,  and  their 
kind.] 

1  [The  tortoise  is  further  described  in  Letters  VII.  and  L.  to  Harrington,  while 
"More  Particulars  respecting  the  Old  Family  Tortoise  "  are  given  at  the  end  of  the 
Antiquities.     Bell  identified  it  with  Testudo  marginata,  a.  North  African  species. 
The  shell  is  preserved  in  the  British  Museum,  and  has  been  figured  in  Bennett's 
edition  of  White's  Selborne  (p.  361).] 

2  \Aberdavine  or  aberdevine  is  an  old  name  for  the  siskin  (Chrysomitris  spinus, 
L.).     The  name  siskin  is  probably  of  German  origin.     This  is  a  kind  of  bird  of 
which  White  could  have  had  no  personal  knowledge,  or  he  would  not  have  mistaken 
it  for  the  reed-sparrow  (i.e.,  reed-bunting).     There  is  no  resemblance  between  the 
two  species  except  the  black  head  and  throat  in  the  breeding  season.] 


112  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

kingdom  that  want  to  be  better  understood :  witness  those  vast 
flocks  of  hen  chaffinches  that  appear  with  us  in  the  winter 
without  hardly  any  cocks  among  them.  Now  was  there  a  due 
proportion  of  each  sex,  it  should  seem  very  improbable  that  any 
one  district  should  produce  such  numbers  of  these  little  birds ;  and 
much  more  when  only  one  half  of  the  species  appears  :  therefore 
we  may  conclude  that  the  fringillce  ccelebes,  for  some  good  pur- 
poses, have  a  peculiar  migration  of  their  own  in  which  the  sexes 
part.  Nor  should  it  seem  so  wonderful  that  the  intercourse  of 
sexes  in  this  species  of  birds  should  be  interrupted  in  winter ; 
since  in  many  animals,  and  particularly  in  bucks  and  does,  the 
sexes  herd  separately,  except  at  the  season  when  commerce  is 
necessary  for  the  continuance  of  the  breed.  For  this  matter  of 
the  chaffinches  see  Fauna  Suecica,  p.  85,  and  Sy  sterna  Natures,  p. 
318.  I  see  every  winter  vast  flights  of  hen  chaffinches,  but  none 
of  cocks. 

Your  method  of  accounting  for  the  periodical  motions  of  the 
British  singing  birds,  or  birds  of  flight,  is  a  very  probable  one ; 
since  the  matter  of  food  is  a  great  regulator  of  the  actions  and 
proceedings  of  the  brute  creation :  there  is  but  one  that  can  be 
set  in  competition  with  it,  and  that  is  love.  But  I  cannot  quite 
acquiesce  with  you  in  one  circumstance  when  you  advance  that, 
"when  they  have  thus  feasted,  they  again  separate  into  small 
"  parties  of  five  or  six,  and  get  the  best  fare  they  can  within  a 
"  certain  district,  having  no  inducement  to  go  in  quest  of  fresh- 
"  turned  earth  ".  Now  if  you  mean  that  the  business  of  congre- 
gating is  quite  at  an  end  from  the  conclusion  of  wheat-sowing  to 
the  season  of  barley  and  oats,  it  is  not  the  case  with  us  ;  for  larks 
and  chaffinches,  and  particularly  linnets,  flock  and  congregate  as 
much  in  the  very  dead  of  winter  as  when  the  husbandman  is 
busy  with  his  ploughs  and  harrows. 

Sure  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  woodcocks  and  fieldfares 
leave  us  in  the  spring,  in  order  to  cross  the  seas,  and  to  retire  to 
some  districts  more  suitable  to  the  purpose  of  breeding.  That 
the  former  pair  before  they  retire,  and  that  the  hens  are  forward 
with  egg,  I  myself,  when  I  was  a  sportsman,  have  often  experi- 
enced. It  cannot  indeed  be  denied  but  that  now  and  then  we 
hear  of  a  woodcock's  nest,  or  young  birds,  discovered  in  some 
part  or  other  of  this  island :  but  then  they  are  always  mentioned 
as  rarities,  and  somewhat  out  of  the  common  course  of  things : 
but  as  to  redwings  and  fieldfares,  no  sportsman  or  naturalist  has 
ever  yet,  that  I  could  hear,  pretended  to  have  found  the  nest  or 


OF  SELBOENE  113 

young  of  those  species  in  any  part  of  these  kingdoms.1  And  I 
the  more  admire  at  this  instance  as  extraordinary,  since,  to  all 
appearance,  the  same  food  in  summer  as  well  as  in  winter  might 
support  them  here  which  maintains  their  congeners,  the  black- 
birds and  thrushes,  did  they  chuse  to  stay  the  summer  through. 
From  hence  it  appears  that  it  is  not  food  alone  which  determines 
some  species  of  birds  with  regard  to  their  stay  or  departure. 
Fieldfares  and  redwings  disappear  sooner  or  later  according  as 
the  warm  weather  comes  on  earlier  or  later.  For  I  well  re- 
member, after  that  dreadful  winter  of  1739-40,  that  cold  north- 
east winds  continued  to  blow  on  through  April  and  May,  and  that 
these  kinds  of  birds  (what  few  remained  of  them)  did  not  depart 
as  usual,  but  were  seen  lingering  about  till  the  beginning  of  June. 
The  best  authority  that  we  can  have  for  the  nidification  of  the 
birds  above  mentioned  in  any  district,  is  the  testimony  of  faunists 
that  have  written  professedly  the  natural  history  of  particular 
countries.  Now,  as  to  the  fieldfare,  Linnceus,  in  his  Fauna 
Suecica,  says  of  it  that  "  maximis  in  arboribus  nidificat "  :  and  of 
the  redwing  he  says,  in  the  same  place,  that  "  nidificat  in  mediis 
"  arbusculis,  sive  sepibus :  ova  sex  cceruleo-viridia  maculis  nigris 
"variis".  Hence  we  may  be  assured  that  fieldfares  and  red- 
wings breed  in  Sweden.  Scopoli  says,  in  his  Annus  Primus,  of  the 
wood-cock,  that  "  nupta  ad  nos  venit  circa  cequinoctium  vernale "  : 
meaning  in  Tirol,  of  which  he  is  a  native.  And  afterwards  he 

adds   "  nidificat  in  paludibus  alpinis :   ova  ponit   3 5  ".       It 

does  not  appear  from  Kramer  that  woodcocks  breed  at  all  in 
Austria :  but  he  says  "  Avis  hcec  septentrionalium  provinciarum 
'  cestivo  tempore  incola  est  ;  ubi  plerumque  nidificat.  Appropinquante 
c  hyeme  australiores  provincias  petit :  hinc  circa  plenilunium  mensis 
'  Octobris  plerumque  Austriam  transmigrat.  Tune  rursus  circa 
'plenilunium  potissimum  mensis  Martii  per  Austriam  matrimonio 
'juncta  ad  septentrionales  provincias  redit."  For  the  whole  passage 
(which  I  have  abridged)  see  Elenchus,  &c.  p.  351.  This  seems 
to  be  a  full  proof  of  the  migration  of  woodcocks  ;  though  little 
is  proved  concerning  the  place  of  breeding. 

P.S.  There  fell  in  the  county  of  Rutland,  in  three  weeks  of 
this  present  very  wet  weather,  seven  inches  and  an  half  of  rain, 
which  is  more  than  has  fallen  in  any  three  weeks  for  these  thirty 
years  past  in  that  part  of  the  world.  A  mean  quantity  in  that 
county  for  one  year  is  twenty  inches  and  an  half. 

1  [Mr.  Harting  quotes  a  number  of  instances  in  which  both  the  redwing  and  the 
fieldfare  are  reported  to  have  nested  in  the  British  Islands.] 

8 


114  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 


LETTER  IX. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Fyfield,  near  Andover,  Feb.  12,  1771. 
DEAR   SIR, 

You  are,  I  know,  no  great  friend  to  migration ; l  and  the  well 
attested  accounts  from  various  parts  of  the  kingdom  seem  to 
justify  you  in  your  suspicions,  that  at  least  many  of  the  swallow 
kind  do  not  leave  us  in  the  winter,  but  lay  themselves  up  like 
insects  and  bats,  in  a  torpid  state,  and  slumber  away  the  more 
uncomfortable  months  till  the  return  of  the  sun  and  fine  weather 
awakens  them. 

But  then  we  must  not,  I  think,  deny  migration  in  general ; 
because  migration  certainly  does  subsist  in  some  places,  as  my 
brother  in  Andalusia  has  fully  informed  me.  Of  the  motions  of 
these  birds  he  has  ocular  demonstration,  for  many  weeks  together, 
both  spring  and  fall :  during  which  periods  myriads  of  the  swallow 
kind  traverse  the  Straits  from  north  to  south,  and  from  south  to 
north,  according  to  the  season.  And  these  vast  migrations  con- 
sist not  only  of  hirundines  but  of  bee-birds,  hoopoes,  oro  pendolos? 
or  golden  thrushes,  &c.  &c.  and  also  many  of  our  soft-billed  summer- 
birds  of  passage ;  and  moreover  of  birds  which  never  leave  us, 
such  as  all  the  various  sorts  of  hawks  and  kites.3  Old  Belon, 
two  hundred  years  ago,  gives  a  curious  account  of  the  incred- 
ible armies  of  hawks  and  kites  which  he  saw  in  the  spring-time 
traversing  the  Thracian  Bosphorus  from  Asia  to  Europe.  Besides 
the  above  mentioned,  he  remarks  that  the  procession  is  swelled 
by  whole  troops  of  eagles  and  vultures. 

Now  it  is  no  wonder  that  birds  residing  in  Africa  should  re- 

1  [In  Harrington's  Miscellanies  (1781)  is  an  essay  "  On  the  periodical  appearing 
and  disappearing  of  certain  birds  at  different  times  of  the  year,"  and  another  "  On 
the  torpidity  of  the  swallow  tribe  when  they  disappear  " .     Both  are  very  sceptical 
as  to  migration,  and  probably  affected  White's  view  of  the  question.] 

2  [Golden  orioles  (Oriolus galbula,  L.).] 

3  [One  or  two  species  of  hawks  are  migrants  even  with  us  :  e.g. ,  the  honey-buzzard 
(see  above,  Letter  XLIII.  to  Pennant),  which  comes  in  spring,  and  the  rough-legged 
buzzard,  which  is  an  irregular  autumnal  visitor.     The  kestrel  migrates  in  winter 
from  north  to  south  within  our  island.     White's  difficulty  about  these  movements, 
which  he  expresses  in  the  next  paragraph,  does  not  admit  of  a  complete  solution, 
nor  can  the  movements  of  other  birds  be  satisfactorily  explained  ;    but  to  some 
extent,  no  doubt,  the  hawks  are  influenced  by  the  movements  of  the  small  birds  on 
which  they  prey  (Harting) ;  they  will  gather  in  numbers  where  there  is  a  plague  of 
field-voles.] 


OF  SELBORNE  115 

treat  before  the  sun  as  it  advances,  and  retire  to  milder  regions, 
and  especially  birds  of  prey,  whose  blood  being  heated  with  hot 
animal  food,  are  more  impatient  of  a  sultry  climate  :  but  then  I 
cannot  help  wondering  why  kites  and  hawks,  and  such  hardy 
birds  as  are  known  to  defy  all  the  severity  of  England,  and  even 
of  Sweden  and  all  north  Europe,  should  want  to  migrate  from  the 
south  of  Europe,  and  be  dissatisfied  with  the  winters  of  Andalusia. 
It  does  not  appear  to  me  that  much  stress  may  be  laid  on  the 
difficulty  and  hazard  that  birds  must  run  in  their  migrations,  by 
reason  of  vast  oceans,  cross  winds,  &c.  ;  because,  if  we  reflect,  a 
bird  may  travel  from  England  to  the  equator  without  launching 
out  and  exposing  itself  to  boundless  seas,  and  that  by  crossing 
the  water  at  Dover,  and  again  at  Gibraltar.  And  I  with  the 
more  confidence  advance  this  obvious  remark,  because  my  brother 
has  always  found  that  some  of  his  birds,  and  particularly  the 
swallow  kind,  are  very  sparing  of  their  pains  in  crossing  the 
Mediterranean :  for  when  arrived  at  Gibraltar,  they  do  not 

' Ranged  in  figure  wedge  their  way, 

' And  set  forth 

'  Their  airy  caravan  high  over  seas 

'  Flying,  and  over  lands  with  mutual  wing 

4  Easing  their  flight : "  MILTON. a 

but  scout  and  hurry  along  in  little  detached  parties  of  six  or 
seven  in  a  company ;  and  sweeping  low,  just  over  the  surface  of 
the  land  and  water,  direct  their  course  to  the  opposite  continent 
at  the  narrowest  passage  they  can  find.  They  usually  slope 
across  the  bay  to  the  south-west,  and  so  pass  over  opposite  to 
Tangier,  which,  it  seems,  is  the  narrowest  space.2 

In  former  letters  we  have  considered  whether  it  was  probable 
that  woodcocks  in  moon-shiny  nights  cross  the  German  ocean 
from  Scandinavia.  As  a  proof  that  birds  of  less  speed  may  pass 
that  sea,  considerable  as  it  is,  I  shall  relate  the  following  incident, 
which,  though  mentioned  to  have  happened  so  many  years  ago, 
was  strictly  matter  of  fact : — As  some  people  were  shooting  in 
the  parish  of  Trotton,  in  the  county  of  Sussex,  they  killed  a  duck 
in  that  dreadful  winter  1 708-9,  with  a  silver  collar  about  it's  neck,3 
on  which  were  engraven  the  arms  of  the  king  of  Denmark.  This 


1  [Paradise  Lost,  vii. ,  426-30.  ] 
«P 


[See  Col.  Irby's  Ornithology  of  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar,  p.  14.  So,  too, 
though  White  was  not  aware  of  it,  our  own  swallows  and  other  birds  pass  in  parties 
along  our  south  coast  eastwards,  until  the  Channel  has  narrowed  sufficiently  for 
their  purposes.] 

3  I  have  read  a  like  anecdote  of  a  swan. 


116  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

anecdote  the  rector  of  Trotton  at  that  time  has  often  told  to  a 
near  relation  of  mine  ;  and,  to  the  best  of  my  remembrance,  the 
collar  was  in  the  possession  of  the  rector.1 

At  present  I  do  not  know  any  body  near  the  sea-side  that  will 
take  the  trouble  to  remark  at  what  time  of  the  moon  woodcocks 
first  come :  if  I  lived  near  the  sea  myself  I  would  soon  tell  you 
more  of  the  matter.  One  thing  I  used  to  observe  when  I  was  a 
sportsman,  that  there  were  times  in  which  woodcocks  were  so 
sluggish  and  sleepy  that  they  would  drop  again  when  flushed 
just  before  the  spaniels,  nay  just  at  the  muzzle  of  a  gun  that  had 
been  fired  at  them  :  whether  this  strange  laziness  was  the  effect 
of  a  recent  fatiguing  journey  I  shall  not  presume  to  say. 

Nightingales  not  only  never  reach  Northumberland  and  Scotland, 
but  also,  as  I  have  been  always  told,  Devonshire  and  Cornwall. 
In  those  two  last  counties  we  cannot  attribute  the  failure  of  them 
to  the  want  of  warmth  :  the  defect  in  the  west  is  rather  a  pre- 
sumptive argument  that  these  birds  come  over  to  us  from  the 
continent  at  the  narrowest  passage,  and  do  not  stroll  so  far 
westward.2 

Let  me  hear  from  your  own  observation  whether  skylarks  do 
not  dust.  I  think  they  do  :  and  if  they  do,  whether  they  wash 
also. 

The  alauda  pratensis  of  Ray  was  the  poor  dupe  that  was 
educating  the  booby  of  a  cuckoo  mentioned  in  my  letter  of 
October  last. 

Your  letter  came  too  late  for  me  to  procure  a  ring- ousel  for 
Mr.  Tunstal  during  their  autumnal  visit ;  but  I  will  endeavour 
to  get  him  one  when  they  call  on  us  again  in  April.  I  am  glad 
that  you  and  that  gentleman  saw  my  Andalusian  birds ;  I  hope 
they  answered  your  expectation.  Royston,  or  grey  crows,  are 
winter  birds  that  come  much  about  the  same  time  with  the  wood- 
cock :  they,  like  the  fieldfare  and  redwing,  have  no  apparent 
reason  for  migration ;  for  as  they  fare  in  the  winter  like  their 
congeners,  so  might  they  in  all  appearance  in  the  summer. 

1  [Mr.  Harting  has  an  interesting  note  on  this  passage,  in  which  he  maintains 
that  the  "duck"  was  really  a  cormorant ;  he  points  out  that  cormorants  were  in 
the  seventeenth  century  often  trained  for  fishing  purposes,  and  wore  collars,  usually 
of  leather.     But  it  is  hardly  likely  that  a  cormorant  could  be  mistaken  for  a  duck.] 

2  [White  was  here  correct  in  his  view  of  the  nightingale's  distribution.     A  line 
drawn  from  Start  Point  to  the  mouth  of  the  Humber  will  include,  to  the  south  and 
east,  all  our  nightingales  but  a  few  stragglers  (Newton).     If  it  be  true,  as  has  been 
maintained,  that  this  species  migrates  "almost  due  north  and  south"   (Blyth), 
White's  inference  that  they  come  over  to  us  at  the  narrowest  passage  is  not  correct ; 
but  the  facts  do  not  seem  to  be  as  yet  accurately  ascertained.] 


OF  SELBOENE  117 

Was   not    Tenant,   when  a   boy,   mistaken?    did    he   not    find   a 
missel-thrush's  nest,  and  take  it  for  the  nest  of  a  fieldfare  ? 

The  stock-dove,  or  wood-pigeon,  cenas  Rail,  is  the  last  winter 
bird  of  passage  which  appears  with  us  ;  and  is  not  seen  till 
towards  the  end  of  November : l  about  twenty  years  ago  they 
abounded  in  the  district  of  Selbome ;  and  strings  of  them  were 
seen  morning  and  evening  that  reached  a  mile  or  more  :  but 
since  the  beechen  woods  have  been  greatly  thinned  they  are 
much  decreased  in  number.  The  ring-dove,  palumbus  Raii,  stays 
with  us  the  whole  year,  and  breeds  several  times  through  the 
summer. 

Before  I  received  your  letter  of  October  last  I  had  just  remarked 
in  my  journal  that  the  trees  were  unusually  green.  This  un- 
common verdure  lasted  on  late  into  November;  and  may  be 
accounted  for  from  a  late  spring,  a  cool  and  moist  summer ;  but 
more  particularly  from  vast  armies  of  chafers,  or  tree-beetles, 
which,  in  many  places,  reduced  whole  woods  to  a  leafless  naked 
state.  These  trees  shot  again  at  Midsummer,  and  then  retained 
their  foliage  till  very  late  in  the  year. 

My  musical  friend,  at  whose  house  I  am  now  visiting,  has  tried 
all  the  owls  that  are  his  near  neighbours  with  a  pitch-pipe  set  at 
concert-pitch,  and  finds  they  all  hoot  in  B  flat.  He  will  examine 
the  nightingales  next  spring. 

I  am,  &c.  &c. 


LETTER  X. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  Aug.  i,  1771. 
DEAR  SIR, 

FROM  what  follows,  it  will  appear  that  neither  owls  nor  cuckoos 
keep  to  one  note.  A  friend  remarks  that  many  (most)  of  his  owls 
hoot  in  B  flat ;  but  that  one  went  almost  half  a  note  below  A. 
The  pipe  he  tried  their  notes  by  was  a  common  half-crown 
pitch-pipe,  such  as  masters  use  for  tuning  of  harpsichords ;  it 
was  the  common  London  pitch. 

A  neighbour  of  mine,  who  is  said  to  have  a  nice  ear,  remarks 
that  the  owls  about  this  village  hoot  in  three  different  keys,  in  G 

1  [See  note  on  Letter  XLIV.  to  Pennant.] 


118  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

flat,  or  F  sharp,  in  B  flat  and  A  flat.  He  heard  two  hooting  to 
each  other,  the  one  in  A  flat,  and  the  other  in  B  flat.  Query  : 
Do  these  different  notes  proceed  from  different  species,  or  only 
from  various  individuals  ?  The  same  person  finds  upon  trial  that 
the  note  of  the  cuckoo  (of  which  we  have  but  one  species)  varies 
in  different  individuals  ;  for,  about  Selborne  wood,  he  found  they 
were  mostly  in  D  :  he  heard  two  sing  together,  the  one  in  D, 
the  other  in  D  sharp,  who  made  a  disagreeable  concert :  he 
afterwards  heard  one  in  D  sharp,  and  about  Wolmer-forest  some 
in  C.1  As  to  nightingales,  he  says  that  their  notes  are  so  short, 
and  their  transitions  so  rapid,  that  he  cannot  well  ascertain  their 
key.  Perhaps  in  a  cage,  and  in  a  room,  their  notes  may  be  more 
distinguishable.  This  person  has  tried  to  settle  the  notes  of  a 
swift,  and  of  several  other  small  birds,  but  cannot  bring  them  to 
any  criterion. 

As  I  have  often  remarked  that  redwings  are  some  of  the  first 
birds  that  suffer  with  us  in  severe  weather,  it  is  110  wonder  at  all 
that  they  retreat  from  Scandinavian  winters  :  and  much  more  the 
ordo  of  grallce,  who,  all  to  a  bird,  forsake  the  northern  parts  of 
Europe  at  the  approach  of  winter.  "  Grallie  tanquam  conjiimtw 
"  unanimiter  in  fugam  se  conjiciunt  ;  ne  earum  unicam  quidem  inter 
"  nos  habitantem  invenire  possimus  ;  ut  enim  (Estate  in  australibus 
"  degere  nequeunt  ob  defectum  lumbricorum,  terramque  siccam ;  ita 
"  nee  in  frigidis  ob  eandem  causam,"  says  Eckmarck  the  Swede,  in 
his  ingenious  little  treatise  called  Migrationes  Avium,  which  by 
all  means  you  ought  to  read  while  your  thoughts  run  on  the 
subject  of  migration.  See  Amcenitates  Academicce,  vol.  4,  p.  565. 

Birds  may  be  so  circumstanced  as  to  be  obliged  to  migrate  in 
one  country  and  not  in  another :  but  the  grallce,  (which  procure 
their  food  from  marshes  and  boggy  grounds)  must  in  winter 
forsake  the  more  northerly  parts  of  Europe,  or  perish  for  want 
of  food. 

I  am  glad  you  are  making  inquiries  from  Linnceus  concerning 
the  woodcock :  it  is  expected  of  him  that  he  should  be  able  to 
account  for  the  motions  and  manner  of  life  of  the  animals  of  his 
own  Fauna. 


1  [The  attempt  to  express  the  keys  in  which  birds  sing  is  useless,  simply  because 
they  do  not  use  our,  or  any  musical  scale  (see  the  quotation  from  Gassendus  in 
Letter  LVI.  to  Harrington).  Single  notes  of  any  kind  can  be  accurately  set  down 
in  musical  notation,  and  it  may  happen  that  the  interval  agrees  with  some  interval 
in  a  musical  scale.  White  does  not  distinguish  between  musical  notes  and  keys.'] 


OF  SELBORNE  119 

Faunists,  as  you  observe,  are  too  apt  to  acquiesce  in  bare 
descriptions,  and  a  few  synonyms  :  the  reason  is  plain ;  because 
all  that  may  be  done  at  home  in  a  man's  study,  but  the  investi- 
gation of  the  life  and  conversation  of  animals,  is  a  concern  of 
much  more  trouble  and  difficulty,  and  is  not  to  be  attained  but 
by  the  active  and  inquisitive,  and  by  those  that  reside  much  in 
the  country. 

Foreign  systematics  are,  I  observe,  much  too  vague  in  their 
specific  differences  ;  which  are  almost  universally  constituted  by 
one  or  two  particular  marks,  the  rest  of  the  description  running 
in  general  terms.  But  our  countryman,  the  excellent  Mr.  Ray, 
is  the  only  describer  that  conveys  some  precise  idea  in  every 
term  or  word,  maintaining  his  superiority  over  his  followers  and 
imitators  in  spite  of  the  advantage  of  fresh  discoveries  and 
modern  information. 

At  this  distance  of  years  it  is  not  in  my  power  to  recollect  at 
what  periods  woodcocks  used  to  be  sluggish  or  alert  when  I  was 
a  sportsman  :  but,  upon  my  mentioning  this  circumstance  to  a 
friend,  he  thinks  he  has  observed  them  to  be  remarkably  listless 
against  snowy  foul  weather :  if  this  should  be  the  case,  then  the 
inaptitude  for  flying  arises  only  from  an  eagerness  for  food ;  as 
sheep  are  observed  to  be  very  intent  on  grazing  against  stormy 
wet  evenings. 

I  am,  &c.  &c. 


LETTER  XI. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  Feb.  8,  1772 . 
DEAR  SIR, 

WHEN  I  ride  about  in  the  winter,  and  see  such  prodigious  flocks 
of  various  kinds  of  birds,  I  cannot  help  admiring  at  these  con- 
gregations, and  wishing  that  it  was  in  my  power  to  account  for 
those  appearances  almost  peculiar  to  the  season.1  The  two 

1  [The  natural  tendency  of  most  birds  is  to  associate  together  except  in  the 
breeding  season,  when  they  separate  in  pairs  for  the  propagation  of  the  species. 
There  are,  however,  exceptions  to  both  parts  of  this  general  statement.  Some 
birds,  and  especially  those  which  pair  for  life,  e.g.,  the  hawks  and  eagles,  rarely 
flock,  except  for  migration.  Others,  as  rooks,  herons,  gulls,  even  breed 'in  company. 
White's  remarks  are  acute  and  sensible ;  but  the  subject  still  calls  both  for  observa- 
tion and  explanation.  Probably  the  advantages  to  be  gained  by  flocking  may  be 
best  illustrated  by  observing  the  habits  of  the  starling,  which  is  seen  in  flocks  nearly 


120  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

great  motives  which  regulate  the  proceedings  of  the  brute  creation 
are  love  and  hunger ;  the  former  incites  animals  to  perpetuate 
their  kind,  the  latter  induces  them  to  preserve  individuals : 
whether  either  of  these  should  seem  to  be  the  ruling  passion  in 
the  matter  of  congregating  is  to  be  considered.  As  to  love,  that 
is  out  of  the  question  at  a  time  of  the  year  when  that  soft  passion 
is  not  indulged :  besides,  during  the  amorous  season,  such  a 
jealousy  prevails  between  the  male  birds  that  they  can  hardly 
bear  to  be  together  in  the  same  hedge  or  field.  Most  of  the 
singing  and  elation  of  spirits  of  that  time  seem  to  me  to  be  the 
effect  of  rivalry  and  emulation :  and  it  is  to  this  spirit  of  jealousy 
that  I  chiefly  attribute  the  equal  dispersion  of  birds  in  the  spring 
over  the  face  of  the  country. 

Now  as  to  the  business  of  food  :  as  these  animals  are  actuated 
by  instinct  to  hunt  for  necessary  food,  they  should  not,  one 
would  suppose,  crowd  together  in  pursuit  of  sustenance  at  a 
time  when  it  is  most  likely  to  fail ;  yet  such  associations  do  take 
place  in  hard  weather  chiefly,  and  thicken  as  the  severity 
increases.  As  some  kind  of  self-interest  and  self-defence  is  no 
doubt  the  motive  for  the  proceeding,  may  it  not  arise  from  the 
helplessness  of  their  state  in  such  rigorous  seasons ;  as  men 
crowd  together,  when  under  great  calamities,  though  they  know 
not  why  ?  Perhaps  approximation  may  dispel  some  degree  of 
cold  ;  and  a  crowd  may  make  each  individual  appear  safer  from 
the  ravages  of  birds  of  prey  and  other  dangers. 

If  I  admire  when  I  see  how  much  congenerous  birds  love  to 
congregate,  I  am  the  more  struck  when  I  see  incongruous  ones 
in  such  strict  amity.  If  we  do  not  much  wonder  to  see  a  flock 
of  rooks  usually  attended  by  a  train  of  daws,  yet  it  is  strange 
that  the  former  should  so  frequently  have  a  flight  of  starlings 
for  their  satellites.  Is  it  because  rooks  have  a  more  discerning 
scent  than  their  attendants,  and  can  lead  them  to  spots  more 
productive  of  food?  Anatomists  say  that  rooks,  by  reason  of 
two  large  nerves  which  run  down  between  the  eyes  into  the 
upper  mandible,  have  a  more  delicate  feeling  in  their  beaks  than 
other  round-billed  birds,  and  can  grope  for  their  meat  when  out 
of  sight.  Perhaps  then  their  associates  attend  them  on  the 
motive  of  interest,  as  greyhounds  wait  on  the  motions  of  their 
finders ;  and  as  lions  are  said  to  do  on  the  yelpings  of  jackalls. 
Lapwings  and  starlings  sometimes  associate.  gfr 

all  the  year  round  ;  often,  as  White  notes,  in  company  with  birds  of  other  species. 
See  a  useful  paper  by  H.  E.  Forrest  in  the  Zoologist  for  March,  1900 ;  also  Letter 
XXIV.  to  Harrington.] 


OF  SELBORNE  121 


LETTER  XII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

March  9,  1772. 
DEAR  SIR, 

As  a  gentleman  and  myself  were  walking  on  the  fourth  of  last 
November  round  the  sea-banks  at  Newhaven,  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Lewes  river,  in  pursuit  of  natural  knowledge,  we  were 
surprised  to  see  three  house-swallows  gliding  very  swiftly  by  us. 
That  morning  was  rather  chilly,  with  the  wind  at  north-west ; 
but  the  tenor  of  the  weather  for  some  time  before  had  been 
delicate,  and  the  noons  remarkably  warm.  From  this  incident, 
and  from  repeated  accounts  which  I  meet  with,  I  am  more  and 
more  induced  to  believe  that  many  of  the  swallow  kind  do  not 
depart  from  this  island  ;  but  lay  themselves  up  in  holes  and 
caverns  ;  and  do,  insect-like  and  bat-like,  come  forth  at  mild 
times,  and  then  retire  again  to  their  latebrce.1  Nor  make  I  the 
least  doubt  but  that,  if  I  lived  at  Newhaven,  Seaford,  Brighthelm- 
stone,  or  any  of  those  towns  near  the  chalk-cliffs  of  the  Sussex 
coast,  by  proper  observations,  I  should  see  swallows  stirring  at 
periods  of  the  winter,  when  the  noons  were  soft  and  inviting, 
and  the  sun  warm  and  invigorating.  And  I  am  the  more  of 
this  opinion  from  what  I  have  remarked  during  some  of  our  late 
springs,  that  though  some  swallows  did  make  their  appearance 
about  the  usual  time,  viz.  the  thirteenth  or  fourteenth  of  April, 
yet  meeting  with  an  harsh  reception,  and  blustering  cold  north- 
east winds,  they  immediately  withdrew,  absconding  for  several 
days,  till  the  weather  gave  them  better  encouragement. 


LETTER    XIII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

April  12,  1772. 


DEAR  SIR, 


WHILE  I  was  in  Sussex  last  autumn  my  residence  was  at  the 
village  near  Lewes,  from  whence  I  had  formerly  the  pleasure  of 
writing  to  you.  On  the  first  of  November  I  remarked  that  the 

1  [It  is  strange  that  it  should  not  have  occurred  to  White  that  these  swallows 
might  be  stragglers  following  in  the  wake  of  a  migrating  body.] 


122  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

old  tortoise,1  formerly  mentioned,  began  first  to  dig  the  ground 
in  order  to  the  forming  it's  hybernaculum,  which  it  had  fixed  on 
just  beside  a  great  tuft  of  hepaticas.  It  scrapes  out  the  ground 
with  it's  fore-feet,  and  throws  it  up  over  it's  back  with  it's  hind ; 
but  the  motion  of  it's  legs  is  ridiculously  slow,  little  exceeding 
the  hour-hand  of  a  clock ;  and  suitable  to  the  composure  of  an 
animal  said  to  be  a  whole  month  in  performing  one  feat  of 
copulation.  Nothing  can  be  more  assiduous  than  this  creature 
night  and  day  in  scooping  the  earth,  and  forcing  it's  great  body 
into  the  cavity  ;  but,  as  the  noons  of  that  season  proved  unusually 
warm  and  sunny,  it  was  continually  interrupted,  and  called  forth 
by  the  heat  in  the  middle  of  the  day ;  and  though  I  continued 
there  till  the  thirteenth  of  November,  yet  the  work  remained 
unfinished.  Harsher  weather,  and  frosty  mornings,  would  have 
quickened  it's  operations.  No  part  of  it's  behaviour  ever  struck 
me  more  than  the  extreme  timidity  it  always  expresses  with 
regard  to  rain ;  for  though  it  has  a  shell  that  would  secure  it 
against  the  wheel  of  a  loaded  cart,  yet  does  it  discover  as  much 
solicitude  about  rain  as  a  lady  dressed  in  all  her  best  attire, 
shuffling  away  on  the  first  sprinklings,  and  running  it's  head  up 
in  a  corner.  If  attended  to,  it  becomes  an  excellent  weather- 
glass ;  for  as  sure  as  it  walks  elate,  and  as  it  were  on  tiptoe, 
feeding  with  great  earnestness  in  a  morning,  so  sure  will  it  rain 
before  night.  It  is  totally  a  diurnal  animal,  and  never  pretends 
to  stir  after  it  becomes  dark.  The  tortoise,  like  other  reptiles, 
has  an  arbitrary  stomach  as  well  as  lungs  ;  and  can  refrain  from 
eating  as  well  as  breathing  for  a  great  part  of  the  year.  When 
first  awakened  it  eats  nothing ;  nor  again  in  the  autumn  before 
it  retires  :  through  the  height  of  the  summer  it  feeds  voraciously, 
devouring  all  the  food  that  comes  in  it's  way.  I  was  much 
taken  with  it's  sagacity  in  discerning  those  that  do  it  kind 
offices  :  for,  as  soon  as  the  good  old  lady  comes  in  sight  who  has 
waited  on  it  for  more  than  thirty  years,  it  hobbles  towards  it's 
benefactress  with  aukward  alacrity ;  but  remains  inattentive  to 
strangers.  Thus  not  only  "  the  ox  knoweth  his  owner,  and  the  ass 
his  master's  crib,"  2  but  the  most  abject  reptile  and  torpid  of 
beings  distinguishes  the  hand  that  feeds  it,  and  is  touched  with 
the  feelings  of  gratitude  ! 

I  am,  &c.  &c. 

P.S.      In    about  three   days  after  I  left  Sussex  the  tortoise 
retired  into  the  ground  under  the  hepatica. 

1  [See  Letters  VII.  and  L.  to  Harrington.]  2  Isaiah  i.  3. 


DEAR  SIR, 


OF  SELBORNE  123 

LETTER    XIV. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  March  26,  1773. 


THE  more  I  reflect  on  the  o-ropyr/  of  animals,  the  more  I  am 
astonished  at  it's  effects.  Nor  is  the  violence  of  this  affection 
more  wonderful  than  the  shortness  of  it's  duration.  Thus  every 
hen  is  in  her  turn  the  virago  of  the  yard,  in  proportion  to  the 
helplessness  of  her  brood;  and  will  fly  in  the  face  of  a  dog  or 
a  sow  in  defence  of  those  chickens,  which  in  a  few  weeks  she 
will  drive  before  her  with  relentless  cruelty. 

This  affection  sublimes  the  passions,  quickens  the  invention, 
and  sharpens  the  sagacity  of  the  brute  creation.  Thus  an  hen, 
just  become  a  mother,  is  no  longer  that  placid  bird  she  used  to 
be,  but  with  feathers  standing  on  end,  wings  hovering,  and 
clocking  note,  she  runs  about  like  one  possessed.  Dams  will 
throw  themselves  in  the  way  of  the  greatest  danger  in  order  to 
avert  it  from  their  progeny.  Thus  a  partridge  will  tumble  along 
before  a  sportsman  in  order  to  draw  away  the  dogs  from  her 
helpless  covey.  In  the  time  of  nidification  the  most  feeble 
birds  will  assault  the  most  rapacious.  All  the  hirundines  of  a 
village  are  up  in  arms  at  the  sight  of  an  hawk,  whom  they  will 
persecute  till  he  leaves  that  district.  A  very  exact  observer1 
has  often  remarked  that  a  pair  of  ravens  nesting  in  the  rock  of 
Gibraltar  would  suffer  no  vulture  or  eagle  to  rest  near  their 
station,  but  would  drive  them  from  the  hill  with  an  amazing 
fury :  even  the  blue  thrush  at  the  season  of  breeding  would 
dart  out  from  the  clefts  of  the  rocks  to  chase  away  the  kestril, 
or  the  sparrow-hawk.  If  you  stand  near  the  nest  of  a  bird  that 
has  young,  she  will  not  be  induced  to  betray  them  by  an 
inadvertent  fondness,  but  will  wait  about  at  a  distance  with 
meat  in  her  mouth  for  an  hour  together. 

Should  I  farther  corroborate  what  I  have  advanced  above  by 
some  anecdotes  which  I  probably  may  have  mentioned  before  in 
conversation,  yet  you  will,  I  trust,  pardon  the  repetition  for  the 
sake  of  the  illustration. 

The  flycatcher  of  the  Zoology  (the  stoparola  of  Ray)  builds 

1  [His  brother  John,  chaplain  at  Gibraltar.] 


124  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

every  year  in  the  vines  that  grow  on  the  walls  of  my  house.  A 
pair  of  these  little  birds  had  one  year  inadvertently  placed  their 
nest  on  a  naked  bough,  perhaps  in  a  shady  time,  not  being  aware 
of  the  inconvenience  that  followed.  But  an  hot  sunny  season 
coming  on  before  the  brood  was  half  fledged,  the  reflection  of 
the  wall  became  insupportable,  and  must  inevitably  have  destroyed 
the  tender  young,  had  not  affection  suggested  an  expedient,  and 
prompted  the  parent-birds  to  hover  over  the  nest  all  the  hotter 
hours,  while  with  wings  expanded,  and  mouths  gaping  for  breath, 
they  screened  off  the  heat  from  their  suffering  offspring. 

A  farther  instance  I  once  saw  of  notable  sagacity  in  a  willow- 
wren,  which  had  built  in  a  bank  in  my  fields.  This  bird  a  friend 
and  myself  had  observed  as  she  sat  in  her  nest;  but  were 
particularly  careful  not  to  disturb  her,  though  we  saw  she  eyed 
us  with  some  degree  of  jealousy.  Some  days  after  as  we  passed 
that  way  we  were  desirous  of  remarking  how  this  brood  went  on  ; 
but  no  nest  could  be  found,  till  I  happened  to  take  up  a  large 
bundle  of  long  green  moss,  as  it  were,  carelessly  thrown  over  the 
nest  in  order  to  dodge  the  eye  of  any  impertinent  intruder. 

A  still  more  remarkable  mixture  of  sagacity  and  instinct 
occurred  to  me  one  day  as  my  people  were  pulling  off  the 
lining  of  an  hotbed,  in  order  to  add  some  fresh  dung.  From  out 
of  the  side  of  this  bed  leaped  an  animal  with  great  agility  that 
made  a  most  grotesque  figure  ;  nor  was  it  without  great  difficulty 
that  it  could  be  taken  ;  when  it  proved  to  be  a  large  white-bellied 
field-mouse  with  three  or  four  young  clinging  to  her  teats  by 
their  mouths  and  feet.  It  was  amazing  that  the  desultory  and 
rapid  motions  of  this  dam  should  not  oblige  her  litter  to  quit 
their  hold,  especially  when  it  appeared  that  they  were  so  young 
as  to  be  both  naked  and  blind ! 

To  these  instances  of  tender  attachment,  many  more  of  which 
might  be  daily  discovered  by  those  that  are  studious  of  nature, 
may  be  opposed  that  rage  of  affection,  that  monstrous  perversion 
of  the  o-Topyv),  which  induces  some  females  of  the  brute  creation 
to  devour  their  young  because  their  owners  have  handled  them 
too  freely,  or  removed  them  from  place  to  place !  Swine,  and 
sometimes  the  more  gentle  race  of  dogs  and  cats,  are  guilty  of 
this  horrid  and  preposterous  murder.  When  I  hear  now  and 
then  of  an  abandoned  mother  that  destroys  her  offspring,  I  am 
not  so  much  amazed ;  since  reason  perverted,  and  the  bad 
passions  let  loose,  are  capable  of  any  enormity  :  but  why  the 
parental  feelings  of  brutes,  that  usually  flow  in  one  most  uniform 


OF  SELBORNE  125 

tenor,  should  sometimes  be  so  extravagantly  diverted,  I  leave  to 
abler  philosophers  than  myself  to  determine. 

I  am,  &c. 


LETTER  XV. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  July  8,  1773. 
DEAR  SIR, 

SOME  young  men  went  down  lately  to  a  pond  on  the  verge  of 
Wolmer-forest  to  hunt  flappers,  or  young  wild-ducks,  many  of 
which  they  caught,  and,  among  the  rest,  some  very  minute  yet 
well -fledged  wild-fowls  alive,  which  upon  examination  I  found 
to  be  teals.  I  did  not  know  till  then  that  teals  ever  bred 
in  the  south  of  England,  and  was  much  pleased  with  the 
discovery :  this  I  look  upon  as  a  great  stroke  in  natural 
history. 

We  have  had,  ever  since  I  can  remember,  a  pair  of  white  owls 
that  constantly  breed  under  the  eaves  of  this  church.  As  I  have 
paid  good  attention  to  the  manner  of  life  of  these  birds  during 
their  season  of  breeding,  which  lasts  the  summer  through,  the 
following  remarks  may  not  perhaps  be  unacceptable : — About 
an  hour  before  sunset  (for  then  the  mice  begin  to  run)  they  sally 
forth  in  quest  of  prey,  and  hunt  all  round  the  hedges  of  meadows 
and  small  enclosures  for  them,  which  seem  to  be  their  only  food. 
In  this  irregular  country  we  can  stand  on  an  eminence  and  see 
them  beat  the  fields  over  like  a  setting-dog,  and  often  drop  down 
in  the  grass  or  corn.  I  have  minuted  these  birds  with  my  watch 
for  an  hour  together,  and  have  found  that  they  return  to  their 
nests,  the  one  or  the  other  of  them,  about  once  in  five  minutes ; 
reflecting  at  the  same  time  on  the  adroitness  that  every  animal  is 
possessed  of  as  far  as  regards  the  well  being  of  itself  and  offspring. 
But  a  piece  of  address,  which  they  shew  when  they  return  loaded, 
should  not,  I  think,  be  passed  over  in  silence. — As  they  take 
their  prey  with  their  claws,  so  they  carry  it  in  their  claws  to 
their  nest :  but,  as  the  feet  are  necessary  in  their  ascent  under 
the  tiles,  they  constantly  perch  first  on  the  roof  of  the  chancel, 
and  shift  the  mouse  from  their  claws  to  their  bill,  that  the  feet 
may  be  at  liberty  to  take  hold  of  the  plate  on  the  wall  as  they 
are  rising  under  the  eaves. 


126  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

White  owls  seem  not  (but  in  this  I  am  not  positive)  to  hoot  at 
all :  all  that  clamorous  hooting  appears  to  me  to  come  from  the 
wood  kinds.1  The  white  owl  does  indeed  snore  and  hiss  in  a 
tremendous  manner ;  and  these  menaces  well  answer  the  inten- 
tion of  intimidating :  for  I  have  known  a  whole  village  up  in 
arms  on  such  an  occasion,  imagining  the  church-yard  to  be  full 
of  goblins  and  spectres.  White  owls  also  often  scream  horribly 
as  they  fly  along ;  from  this  screaming  probably  arose  the 
common  people's  imaginary  species  of  screech-vrt>lt  which  they 
superstitiously  think  attends  the  windows  of  dying  persons. 
The  plumage  of  the  remiges  of  the  wings  of  every  species  of 
owl  that  I  have  yet  examined  is  remarkably  soft  and  pliant. 
Perhaps  it  may  be  necessary  that  the  wings  of  these  birds  should 
not  make  much  resistance  or  rushing,  that  they  may  be  enabled 
to  steal  through  the  air  unheard  upon  a  nimble  and  watchful 
quarry. 

While  I  am  talking  of  owls,  it  may  not  be  improper  to  mention 
what  I  was  told  by  a  gentleman  of  the  county  of  Wilts.  As 
they  were  grubbing  a  vast  hollow  pollard-ash  that  had  been  the 
mansion  of  owls  for  centuries,  he  discovered  at  the  bottom  a 
mass  of  matter  that  at  first  he  could  not  account  for.  After 
some  examination,  he  found  it  was  a  congeries  of  the  bones  of 
mice  (and  perhaps  of  birds  and  bats)  that  had  been  heaping 
together  for  ages,  being  cast  up  in  pellets  out  of  the  crops  of 
many  generations  of  inhabitants.  For  owls  cast  up  the  bones, 
fur,  and  feathers,  of  what  they  devour,  after  the  manner  of 
hawks.  He  believes,  he  told  me,  that  there  were  bushels  of  this 
kind  of  substance.2 

When  brown  owls  hoot  their  throats  swell  as  big  as  an  hen's 
egg.  I  have  known  an  owl  of  this  species  live  a  full  year 
without  any  water.  Perhaps  the  case  may  be  the  same  with  all 
birds  of  prey.  When  owls  fly  they  stretch  out  their  legs  behind 
them  as  a  balance  to  their  large  heavy  heads :  for  as  most 
nocturnal  birds  have  large  eyes  and  ears  they  must  have  large 
heads  to  contain  them.  Large  eyes  I  presume  are  necessary  to 

1  [The  question  whether  the  white  owl  hoots  like  the  brown  owl  has  often  been 
discussed.     The  evidence  seems  to  point  to  the  conclusion  that  it  occasionally  does 
so.      White's  reservation,    "but  in  this  I  am  not  positive,"  may  be  noted  with 
advantage  ;  it  illustrates  the  difficulties  which  attend  the  conscientious  observation 
of  birds.     We  learn  from  the  beginning  of  this  letter  that  White  had  paid  constant 
attention  to  this  species  for  many  summers  ;  yet  he  will  not  be  positive  on  this 
point.] 

2  [Bones  of  frogs  sometimes  abound  in  such  accumulations.] 


OF  SELBORNE  127 

collect  every  ray  of  light,  and  large  concave  ears  to  command 
the  smallest  degree  of  sound  or  noise. 

I  am,  etc. 


It  will  be  proper  to  premise  here  that  the  sixteenth,  eighteenth,  twentieth  and 
twenty-first  letters  have  been  published  already  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions : 
but  as  nicer  observation  has  furnished  several  corrections  and  additions,  it  is  hoped 
that  the  republication  of  them  will  not  give  offence ;  especially  as  these  sheets  would 
be  very  imperfect  without  them,  and  as  they  will  be  new  to  many  readers  who  had 
no  opportunity  of  seeing  them  when  they  made  their  first  appearance. 

The  hirundines  are  a  most  inoffensive,  harmless,  entertaining, 
social,  and  useful  tribe  of  birds  :  they  touch  no  fruit  in  our  gardens  ; 
delight,  all  except  one  species,  in  attaching  themselves  to  our 
houses ;  amuse  us  with  their  migrations,  songs,  and  marvellous 
agility ;  and  clear  our  outlets  from  the  annoyances  of  gnats  and 
other  troublesome  insects.  Some  districts  in  the  south  seas,  near 
Guiaquil,1  are  desolated,  it  seems,  by  the  infinite  swarms  of 
venomous  mosquitoes,  which  fill  the  air,  and  render  those  coasts 
insupportable.  It  would  be  worth  inquiring  whether  any  species 
of  hirundines  is  found  in  those  regions.  Whoever  contemplates 
the  myriads  of  insects  that  sport  in  the  sunbeams  of  a  summer 
evening  in  this  country,  will  soon  be  convinced  to  what  a  degree 
our  atmosphere  would  be  choaked  with  them  was  it  not  for  the 
friendly  interposition  of  the  swallow  tribe. 

Many  species  of  birds  have  their  peculiar  lice;  but  the 
hirundines  alone  seem  to  be  annoyed  with  dipterous  insects,2 
which  infest  every  species,  and  are  so  large,  in  proportion  to 
themselves,  that  they  must  be  extremely  irksome  and  injurious 
to  them.  These  are  the  hippoboscce  hirundinis,  with  narrow 
subulated  wings,  abounding  in  every  nest ;  and  are  hatched  by 
the  warmth  of  the  bird's  own  body  during  incubation,  and  crawl 
about  under  its  feathers. 

A  species  of  them  is  familiar  to  horsemen  in  the  south  of 
England  under  the  name  of  forest-fly  ;  3  and  to  some  of  side-fly , 
from  it's  running  sideways  like  a  crab.  It  creeps  under  the 
tails,  and  about  the  groins,  of  horses,  which,  at  their  first  coming 
out  of  the  north,  are  rendered  half  frantic  by  the  tickling  sen- 
sation ;  while  our  own  breed  little  regards  them. 

1  See  Ulloa's  Travels. 

2  [Dipterous  insects  infest  various  other  birds,  each  as  a  rule  frequenting  one 
particular  host ;  others  are  parasitic  upon  quadrupeds  (sheep,  horse,  deer,  bats) ; 
or  upon  bees.] 

3  \jHippobosca  equina,  L.] 


128  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

The  curious  Reaumur  discovered  the  large  eggs,  or  rather 
pupce,  of  these  flies  as  big  as  the  flies  themselves,  which  he 
hatched  in  his  own  bosom.  Any  person  that  will  take  the 
trouble  to  examine  the  old  nests  of  either  species  of  swallows 
may  find  in  them  the  black  shining  cases  or  skins  of  the  pupce 
of  these  insects  :  but  for  other  particulars,  too  long  for  this 
place,  we  refer  the  reader  to  I'Histoire  d' Insectes  of  that  admir- 
able entomologist.  Tom.  iv.  pi.  II.1 


LETTER  XVI. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  Nov.  20,  1773. 
DEAR  SIR, 

IN  obedience  to  your  injunctions  I  sit  down  to  give  you  some 
account  of  the  house-martin,  or  martlet ;  and,  if  my  monography 
of  this  little  domestic  and  familiar  bird  should  happen  to  meet 
with  your  approbation,  I  may  probably  soon  extend  my  enquiries 
to  the  rest  of  the  British  hirundines — the  swallow,  the  swift,  and 
the  bank-martin. 

A  few  house-martins  begin  to  appear  about  the  sixteenth  of 
April ;  usually  some  few  days  later  than  the  swallow.  For  some 
time  after  they  appear  the  hirundines  in  general  pay  no  attention 
to  the  business  of  nidification,  but  play  and  sport  about,  either  to 
recruit  from  the  fatigue  of  their  journey,  if  they  do  migrate  at 
all,  or  else  that  their  blood  may  recover  it's  true  tone  and  texture 
after  it  has  been  so  long  benumbed  by  the  severities  of  winter. 
About  the  middle  of  May,  if  the  weather  be  fine,  the  martin 
begins  to  think  in  earnest  of  providing  a  mansion  for  it's  family. 
The  crust  or  shell  of  this  nest  seems  to  be  formed  of  such  dirt 
or  loam  as  comes  most  readily  to  hand,  and  is  tempered  and 
wrought  together  with  little  bits  of  broken  straws  to  render  it 
tough  and  tenacious.  As  this  bird  often  builds  against  a  per- 
pendicular wall  without  any  projecting  ledge  under,  it  requires 
it's  utmost  efforts  to  get  the  first  foundation  firmly  fixed,  so  that 
it  may  safely  carry  the  superstructure.  On  this  occasion  the 
bird  not  only  clings  with  it's  claws,  but  partly  supports  itself  by 

1  \Mtmoires  pour  servir  d  I'Histoire  des  Insectes,  par  M.  de  Rtaumur.  Paris  : 
6  vols.,  410,  1734-42.] 


OF  SELBORNE  129 

strongly  inclining  it's  tail  against  the  wall,  making  that  a  fulcrum ; 
and  thus  steadied  it  works  and  plasters  the  materials  into  the 
face  of  the  brick  or  stone.  But  then,  that  this  work  may  not, 
while  it  is  soft  and  green,  pull  itself  down  by  it's  own  weight, 
the  provident  architect  has  prudence  and  forbearance  enough 
not  to  advance  her  work  too  fast ;  but  by  building  only  in  the 
morning,  and  by  dedicating  the  rest  of  the  day  to  food  and 
amusement,  gives  it  sufficient  time  to  dry  and  harden.  About 
half  an  inch  seems  to  be  a  sufficient  layer  for  a  day.  Thus 
careful  workmen  when  they  build  mud-walls  (informed  at  first 
perhaps  by  this  little  bird)  raise  but  a  moderate  layer  at  a  time, 
and  then  desist ;  lest  the  work  should  become  top-heavy,  and  so 
be  ruined  by  it's  own  weight.  By  this  method  in  about  ten  or 
twelve  days  is  formed  an  hemispheric  nest  with  a  small  aperture 
towards  the  top,  strong,  compact,  and  warm  ;  and  perfectly  fitted 
for  all  the  purposes  for  which  it  was  intended.  But  then  nothing 
is  more  common  than  for  the  house-sparrow,  as  soon  as  the  shell 
is  finished,  to  seize  on  it  as  it's  own,  to  eject  the  owner,  and  to 
line  it  after  it's  own  manner. 

After  so  much  labour  is  bestowed  in  erecting  a  mansion,  as 
Nature  seldom  works  in  vain,  martins  will  breed  on  for  several 
years  together  in  the  same  nest,  where  it  happens  to  be  well 
sheltered  and  secure  from  the  injuries  of  weather.  The  shell  or 
crust  of  the  nest  is  a  sort  of  rustic-work  full  of  knobs  and  pro- 
tuberances on  the  outside :  nor  is  the  inside  of  those  that  I  have 
examined  smoothed  with  any  exactness  at  all ;  but  is  rendered 
soft  and  warm,  and  fit  for  incubation,  by  a  lining  of  small  straws, 
grasses,  and  feathers ;  and  sometimes  by  a  bed  of  moss  inter- 
woven with  wool.  In  this  nest  they  tread,  or  engender,  frequently 
during  the  time  of  building  ;  and  the  hen  lays  from  three  to  five 
white  eggs. 

At  first  when  the  young  are  hatched,  and  are  in  a  naked  and 
helpless  condition,  the  parent  birds,  with  tender  assiduity,  carry 
out  what  comes  away  from  their  young.  Was  it  not  for  this 
affectionate  cleanliness  the  nestlings  would  soon  be  burnt  up, 
and  destroyed  in  so  deep  and  hollow  a  nest,  by  their  own  caustic 
excrement.  In  the  quadruped  creation  the  same  neat  precaution 
is  made  use  of ;  particularly  among  dogs  and  cats,  where  the 
dams  lick  away  what  proceeds  from  their  young.  But  in  birds 
there  seems  to  be  a  particular  provision,  that  the  dung  of 
nestlings  is  enveloped  into  a  tough  kind  of  jelly,  and  therefore 
is  the  easier  conveyed  off  without  soiling  or  daubing.  Yet,  as 
9 


130  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

nature  is  cleanly  in  all  her  ways,  the  young  perform  this  office 
for  themselves  in  a  little  time  by  thrusting  their  tails  out  at  the 
aperture  of  their  nest.  As  the  young  of  small  birds  presently 
arrive  at  their  fjXiKta,  or  full  growth,  they  soon  become  im- 
patient of  confinement,  and  sit  all  day  with  their  heads  out  at 
the  orifice,  where  the  dams,  by  clinging  to  the  nests,  supply 
them  with  food  from  morning  to  night.  For  a  time  the  young 
are  fed  on  the  wing  by  their  parents ;  but  the  feat  is  done  by  so 
quick  and  almost  imperceptible  a  slight,  that  a  person  must 
have  attended  very  exactly  to  their  motions  before  he  would 
be  able  to  perceive  it.  As  soon  as  the  young  are  able  to  shift 
for  themselves,  the  dams  immediately  turn  their  thoughts  to 
the  business  of  a  second  brood :  while  the  first  flight,  shaken  off 
and  rejected  by  their  nurses,  congregate  in  great  flocks,  and  are 
the  birds  that  are  seen  clustering  and  hovering  on  sunny  morn- 
ings and  evenings  round  towers  and  steeples,  and  on  the  roofs 
of  churches  and  houses.  These  congregatings  usually  begin  to 
take  place  about  the  first  week  in  August;  and  therefore  we 
may  conclude  that  by  that  time  the  first  flight  is  pretty  well 
over.  The  young  of  this  species  do  not  quit  their  abodes  all 
together ;  but  the  more  forward  birds  get  abroad  some  days 
before  the  rest.  These  approaching  the  eaves  of  buildings,  and 
playing  about  before  them,  make  people  think  that  several  old 
ones  attend  one  nest.  They  are  often  capricious  in  fixing  on 
a  nesting-place,  beginning  many  edifices,  and  leaving  them 
unfinished ;  but  when  once  a  nest  is  completed  in  a  sheltered 
place,  it  serves  for  several  seasons.  Those  which  breed  in  a 
ready  finished  house  get  the  start  in  hatching  of  those  that 
build  new  by  ten  days  or  a  fortnight.  These  industrious 
artificers  are  at  their  labours  in  the  long  days  before  four  in 
the  morning :  when  they  fix  their  materials  they  plaster  them 
on  with  their  chins,  moving  their  heads  with  a  quick  vibratory 
motion.  They  dip  and  wash  as  they  fly  sometimes  in  very  hot 
weather,  but  not  so  frequently  as  swallows.  It  has  been  observed 
that  martins  usually  build  to  a  north-east  or  north-west  aspect, 
that  the  heat  of  the  sun  may  not  crack  and  destroy  their  nests : 
but  instances  are  also  remembered  where  they  bred  for  many 
years  in  vast  abundance  in  an  hot  stifled  inn-yard,  against  a  wall 
facing  to  the  south. 

Birds  in  general  are  wise  in  their  choice  of  situation  :  but  in 
this  neighbourhood  every  summer  is  seen  a  strong  proof  to  the 
contrary  at  an  house  without  eaves  in  an  exposed  district,  where 


OF  SELBOENE  131 

some  martins  build  year  by  year  in  the  corners  of  the  windows. 
But,  as  the  corners  of  these  windows  (which  face  to  the  south- 
east and  south-west)  are  too  shallow,  the  nests  are  washed  down 
every  hard  rain ;  and  yet  these  birds  drudge  on  to  no  purpose 
from  summer  to  summer,  without  changing  their  aspect  or  house. 
It  is  a  piteous  sight  to  see  them  labouring  when  half  their  nest 

is  washed    away  and  bringing    dirt "generis    lapsi  sarcire 

minus".1  Thus  is  instinct  a  most  wonderful  unequal  faculty; 
in  some  instances  so  much  above  reason,  in  other  respects  so  far 
below  it !  Martins  love  to  frequent  towns,  especially  if  there  are 
great  lakes  and  rivers  at  hand  ;  nay  they  even  affect  the  close  air 
of  London.  And  I  have  not  only  seen  them  nesting  in  the 
Borough,  but  even  in  the  Strand  and  Fleet-street ;  but  then 
it  was  obvious  from  the  dinginess  of  their  aspect  that  their 
feathers  partook  of  the  filth  of  that  sooty  atmosphere.  Martins 
are  by  far  the  least  agile  of  the  four  species ;  their  wings  and 
tails  are  short,  and  therefore  they  are  not  capable  of  such 
surprising  turns  and  quick  and  glancing  evolutions  as  the  swallow. 
Accordingly  they  make  use  of  a  placid  easy  motion  in  a  middle 
region  of  the  air,  seldom  mounting  to  any  great  height,  and 
never  sweeping  long  together  over  the  surface  of  the  ground 
or  water.  They  do  not  wander  far  for  food,  but  affect  sheltered 
districts,  over  some  lake,  or  under  some  hanging  wood,  or  in 
some  hollow  vale,  especially  in  windy  weather.  They  breed  the 
latest  of  all  the  swallow  kind:  in  1772  they  had  nestlings  on  to 
October  the  twenty-first,  and  are  never  without  unfledged  young 
as  late  as  Michaelmas. 

As  the  summer  declines  the  congregating  flocks  increase  in 
numbers  daily  by  the  constant  accession  of  the  second  broods  : 
till  at  last  they  swarm  in  myriads  upon  myriads  round  the 
villages  on  the  Thames,  darkening  the  face  of  the  sky  as  they 
frequent  the  aits  of  that  river,  where  they  roost  They  retire, 
the  bulk  of  them  I  mean,  in  vast  flocks  together  about  the 
beginning  of  October :  but  have  appeared  of  late  years  in  a 
considerable  flight  in  this  neighbourhood,  for  one  day  or  two, 
as  late  as  November  the  third  and  sixth,  after  they  were  supposed 
to  have  been  gone  for  more  than  a  fortnight.  They  therefore 
withdraw  with  us  the  latest  of  any  species.  Unless  these  birds 
are  very  short-lived  indeed,  or  unless  they  do  not  return  to  the 
district  where  they  are  bred,  they  must  undergo  vast  devastations 

1[Virg.,  Georg.,  iv.,  249.] 


132  THE  NATUEAL  HISTORY 

some  how,  and  some  where  ;  for  the  birds  that  return  yearly  bear 
no  manner  of  proportion  to  the  birds  that  retire. 

House-martins  are  distinguished  from  their  congeners  by 
having  their  legs  covered  with  soft  downy  feathers  down  to  their 
toes.  They  are  no  songsters ;  but  twitter  in  a  pretty  inward  soft 
manner  in  their  nests.  During  the  time  of  breeding  they  are 
often  greatly  molested  with  fleas. 

I  am,  &c. 


LETTER  XVII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Ringmer,  near  Lewes,  Dec.  9,  1773. 

DEAR  SIR, 

I  RECEIVED  your  last  favour  just  as  I  was  setting  out  for  this 
place ;  and  am  pleased  to  find  that  my  monography  met  with 
your  approbation.  My  remarks  are  the  result  of  many  years 
observation ;  and  are,  I  trust,  true  in  the  whole :  though  I  do 
not  pretend  to  say  that  they  are  perfectly  void  of  mistake,  or 
that  a  more  nice  observer  might  not  make  many  additions,  since 
subjects  of  this  kind  are  inexhaustible. 

If  you  think  my  letter  worthy  the  notice  of  your  respectable 
society,  you  are  at  liberty  to  lay  it  before  them ;  and  they  will 
consider  it,  I  hope,  as  it  was  intended,  as  an  humble  attempt  to 
promote  a  more  minute  inquiry  into  natural  history ;  into  the 
life  and  conversation  of  animals.  Perhaps  hereafter  I  may  be 
induced  to  take  the  house-swallow  under  consideration ;  and 
from  that  proceed  to  the  rest  of  the  British  hirundines. 

Though  I  have  now  travelled  the  Sussex-downs  upwards  of 
thirty  years,  yet  I  still  investigate  that  chain  of  majestic  moun- 
tains with  fresh  admiration  year  by  year ;  and  think  I  see  new 
beauties  every  time  I  traverse  it.  This  range,  which  runs  from 
Chichester  eastward  as  far  as  East-Bourn,  is  about  sixty  miles  in 
length,  and  is  called  The  South  Downs,  properly  speaking,  only 
round  Lewes.  As  you  pass  along  you  command  a  noble  view 
of  the  wild,  or  weald,  on  one  hand,  and  the  broad  downs  and  sea 
on  the  other.  Mr.  Ray  used  to  visit  a  family l  just  at  the  foot  of 
these  hills,  and  was  so  ravished  with  the  prospect  from  Plumpton- 

1  Mr.  Courthope  of  Danny. 


OF  SELBOKNE  133 

plain  near  Lewes,  that  he  mentions  those  scapes  in  his  "  Wisdom 
of  God  in  the  Works  of  the  Creation  "  with  the  utmost  satisfac- 
tion, and  thinks  them  equal  to  any  thing  he  had  seen  in  the 
finest  parts  of  Europe. 

For  my  own  part,  I  think  there  is  somewhat  peculiarly  sweet 
and  amusing  in  the  shapely  figured  aspect  of  chalk-hills  in  pre- 
ference to  those  of  stone,  which  are  rugged,  broken,  abrupt,  and 
shapeless. 

Perhaps  I  may  be  singular  in  my  opinion,  and  not  so  happy  as 
to  convey  to  you  the  same  idea ;  but  I  never  contemplate  these 
mountains  without  thinking  I  perceive  somewhat  analogous  to 
growth  in  their  gentle  swellings  and  smooth  fungus-like  pro- 
tuberances, their  fluted  sides,  and  regular  hollows  and  slopes, 
that  carry  at  once  the  air  of  vegetative  dilatation  and  expansion 

Or  was  there  ever  a  time  when  these  immense  masses 

of  calcarious  matter  were  thrown  into  fermentation  by  some 
adventitious  moisture  ;  were  raised  and  leavened  into  such  shapes 
by  some  plastic  power ;  and  so  made  to  swell  and  heave  their 
broad  backs  into  the  sky  so  much  above  the  less  animated  clay 
of  the  wild  below  ?  1 

By  what  I  can  guess  from  the  admeasurements  of  the  hills 
that  have  been  taken  round  my  house,  I  should  suppose  that 
these  hills  surmount  the  wild  at  an  average  at  about  the  rate 
of  five  hundred  feet. 

One  thing  is  very  remarkable  as  to  the  sheep :  from  the 
westward  till  you  get  to  the  river  Adur  all  the  flocks  have  horns, 
and  smooth  white  faces,  and  white  legs ;  and  a  hornless  sheep 
is  rarely  to  be  seen :  but  as  soon  as  you  pass  that  river  eastward, 
and  mount  feeding-hill,  all  the  flocks  at  once  become  hornless, 
or,  as  they  call  them,  poll-sheep ;  and  have  moreover  black 
faces  with  a  white  tuft  of  wool  on  their  foreheads,  and  speckled 
and  spotted  legs  :  so  that  you  would  think  that  the  flocks  of 
Laban  were  pasturing  on  one  side  of  the  stream,  and  the  varie- 
gated breed  of  his  son-in-law  Jacob  were  cantoned  along  on  the 
other.  And  this  diversity  holds  good  respectively  on  each  side 
from  the  valley  of  Bramber  and  Seeding  to  the  eastward,  and 
westward  all  the  whole  length  of  the  downs.  If  you  talk  with 
the  shepherds  on  this  subject,  they  tell  you  that  the  case  has 

1  [  Wild  (see  above)  =  weald.  White  had  no  suspicion  that  these  Sussex  downs 
might  have  been  shaped  by  denudation.] 


134  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

been  so  from  time  immemorial :  and  smile  at  your  simplicity  if 
you  ask  them  whether  the  situation  of  these  two  different  breeds 
might  not  be  reversed  ?  However,  an  intelligent  friend  of  mine 
near  Chichester  is  determined  to  try  the  experiment ;  and  has 
this  autumn,  at  the  hazard  of  being  laughed  at,  introduced  a 
parcel  of  black-faced  hornless  rams  among  his  horned  western 
ewes.  The  black-faced  poll-sheep  have  the  shortest  legs  and 
the  finest  wool. 

As  I  had  hardly  ever  before  travelled  these  downs  at  so  late 
a  season  of  the  year,  I  was  determined  to  keep  as  sharp  a  look- 
out as  possible  so  near  the  southern  coast,  with  respect  to  the 
summer  short-winged  birds  of  passage.  We  make  great  inquiries 
concerning  the  withdrawing  of  the  swallow  kind,  without  ex- 
amining enough  into  the  causes  why  this  tribe  is  never  to  be  seen 
in  winter :  for,  entre  nous,  the  disappearing  of  the  latter  is  more 
marvellous  than  that  of  the  former,  and  much  more  unaccountable. 
The  hirundines,  if  they  please,  are  certainly  capable  of  migration  ; 
and  yet  no  doubt  are  often  found  in  a  torpid  state  :  but  redstarts, 
nightingales,  white-throats,  black-caps,  &c.,  &c.,  are  very  ill  pro- 
vided for  long  flights ;  have  never  been  once  found,  as  I  ever 
heard  of,  in  a  torpid  state,  and  yet  can  never  be  supposed,  in 
such  troops,  from  year  to  year  to  dodge  and  elude  the  eyes  of  the 
curious  and  inquisitive,  which  from  day  to  day  discern  the  other 
small  birds  that  are  known  to  abide  our  winters.  But,  notwith- 
standing all  my  care,  I  saw  nothing  like  a  summer  bird  of 
passage  : l  and,  what  is  more  strange,  not  one  wheat-ear,  though 
they  abound  so  in  the  autumn  as  to  be  a  considerable  perquisite  to 
the  shepherds  that  take  them ;  and  though  many  are  to  be  seen 
to  my  knowledge  all  the  winter  through  in  many  parts  of  the 
south  of  England.  The  most  intelligent  shepherds  tell  me  that 
some  few  of  these  birds  appear  on  the  downs  in  March,  and  then 
withdraw  to  breed  probably  in  warrens  and  stone-quarries  :  now 
and  then  a  nest  is  plowed  up  in  a  fallow  on  the  downs  under  a 
furrow,  but  it  is  thought  a  rarity.  At  the  time  of  wheat-harvest 
they  begin  to  be  taken  in  great  numbers ;  are  sent  for  sale  in 
vast  quantities  to  Brighthelmstone  and  Tunbridge ;  and  appear  at 

1  [White  dates  this  letter  December  9,  but  does  not  tell  us  the  day  on  which  he 
rode  along  the  downs.  If  it  was  in  December,  the  absence  of  the  summer  migrants 
is  of  course  natural.  For  the  wheatear,  see  note  on  Letter  XXXIX.  to  Pennant ; 
the  statement  below,  at  the  end  of  this  paragraph,  that  they  are  not  taken  west  of 
the  Arun,  if  it  means  that  they  are  not  found,  is  of  course  erroneous.  Wheatears 
are  common  all  along  the  south  coast.] 


OF  SELBORNE  135 

the  tables  of  all  the  gentry  that  entertain  with  any  degree  of 
elegance.  About  Michaelmas  they  retire  and  are  seen  no  more 
till  March.  Though  these  birds  are,  when  in  season,  in  great 
plenty  on  the  south  downs  round  Lewes,  yet  at  East-Bourn, 
which  is  the  eastern  extremity  of  those  downs,  they  abound 
much  more.  One  thing  is  very  remarkable — that  though  in 
the  height  of  the  season  so  many  hundreds  of  dozens  are  taken, 
yet  they  never  are  seen  to  flock ;  and  it  is  a  rare  thing  to  see 
more  than  three  or  four  at  a  time  :  so  that  there  must  be  a 
perpetual  flitting  and  constant  progressive  succession.  It  does 
not  appear  that  any  wheat- ears  are  taken  to  the  westward  of 
Houghton-bridge,  which  stands  on  the  river  Arun. 

I  did  not  fail  to  look  particularly  after  my  new  migration  of 
ring-ousels ;  and  to  take  notice  whether  they  continued  on  the 
downs  to  this  season  of  the  year ;  as  I  had  formerly  remarked 
them  in  the  month  of  October  all  the  way  from  Chichester  to 
Lewes  wherever  there  were  any  shrubs  and  covert :  but  not  one 
bird  of  this  sort  came  within  my  observation.  I  only  saw  a 
few  larks  and  whin-chats,  some  rooks,  and  several  kites  and 
buzzards. 

About  Midsummer  a  flight  of  cross-bills  comes  to  the  pine-groves 
about  this  house,1  but  never  makes  any  long  stay. 

The  old  tortoise,  that  I  have  mentioned  in  a  former  letter, 
still  continues  in  this  garden  ;  and  retired  under  ground  about 
the  twentieth  of  November,  and  came  out  again  for  one  day  on 
the  thirtieth  :  it  lies  now  buried  in  a  wet  swampy  border  under 
a  wall  facing  to  the  south,  and  is  enveloped  at  present  in  mud 
and  mire ! 

Here  is  a  large  rookery  round  this  house,  the  inhabitants  of 
which  seem  to  get  their  livelihood  very  easily  ;  for  they  spend 
the  greatest  part  of  the  day  on  their  nest-trees  when  the  weather 
is  mild.  These  rooks  retire  every  evening  all  the  winter  from 
this  rookery,  where  they  only  call  by  the  way,  as  they  are  going 
to  roost  in  deep  woods :  at  the  dawn  of  day  they  always  revisit 
their  nest-trees,  and  are  preceded  a  few  minutes  by  a  flight  of 
daws,  that  act,  as  it  were,  as  their  harbingers. 

I  am,  &c. 

1  [It  is  to  be  noted  that  White  dates  this  letter  from  Ringmer  in  Sussex,  not 
from  Selborne.j 


136  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 


LETTER  XVIII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  Jan.  29,  1774. 
DEAR  SIR, 

THE  house-swallow,  or  chimney-swallow,  is  undoubtedly  the 
first  comer  of  all  the  British  hirundines  ;  and  appears  in  general 
on  or  about  the  thirteenth  of  April,  as  I  have  remarked  from 
many  years  observation.  Not  but  now  and  then  a  straggler  is 
seen  much  earlier  :  and,  in  particular,  when  I  was  a  boy  I 
observed  a  swallow  for  a  whole  day  together  on  a  sunny  warm 
Shrove  Tuesday;  which  day  could  not  fall  out  later  than  the 
middle  of  March,  and  often  happened  early  in  February. 

It  is  worth  remarking  that  these  birds  are  seen  first  about 
lakes  and  mill-ponds  ;  and  it  is  also  very  particular,  that  if  these 
early  visitors  happen  to  find  frost  and  snow,  as  was  the  case  of 
the  two  dreadful  springs  of  1770  and  1771,  they  immediately 
withdraw  for  a  time.  A  circumstance  this  much  more  in  favour 
of  hiding  than  migration  ;  since  it  is  much  more  probable  that  a 
bird  should  retire  to  it's  hybernaculum  just  at  hand,  than  return 
for  a  week  or  two  only  to  warmer  latitudes. 

The  swallow,  though  called  the  chimney-swallow,  by  no  means 
builds  together  in  chimnies,  but  often  within  barns  and  out- 
houses against  the  rafters  ;  and  so  she  did  in  Virgil's  time  : 


"  Garrula  quam  tignis  nidos  suspendat  hirundo."  1 

In  Sweden  she  builds  in  barns,  and  is  called  ladu  srvala,  the 
barn-  swallow.  Besides,  in  the  warmer  parts  of  Europe  there  are 
no  chimnies  to  houses,  except  they  are  English-built  :  in  these 
countries  she  constructs  her  nest  in  porches,  and  gate-ways,  and 
galleries,  and  open  halls. 

Here  and  there  a  bird  may  affect  some  odd,  peculiar  place  ;  as 
we  have  known  a  swallow  build  down  the  shaft  of  an  old  well, 
through  which  chalk  had  been  formerly  drawn  up  for  the 
purpose  of  manure  :  but  in  general  with  us  this  hirundo  breeds 
in  chimnies  ;  and  loves  to  haunt  those  stacks  where  there  is  a 
constant  fire,  no  doubt  for  the  sake  of  warmth.  Not  that  it  can 

irg.,  Georg.t  iv.,  307.] 


OF  SELBORNE  137 

subsist  in  the  immediate  shaft  where  there  is  a  fire  ;  but  prefers 
one  adjoining  to  that  of  the  kitchen,  and  disregards  the  perpetual 
smoke  of  that  funnel,  as  I  have  often  observed  with  some  degree 
of  wonder. 

Five  or  six  or  more  feet  down  the  chimney  does  this  little 
bird  begin  to  form  her  nest  about  the  middle  of  May,  which 
consists,  like  that  of  the  house-martin,  of  a  crust  or  shell  composed 
of  dirt  or  mud,  mixed  with  short  pieces  of  straw  to  render  it 
tough  and  permanent ;  with  this  difference,  that  whereas  the 
shell  of  the  martin  is  nearly  hemispheric,  that  of  the  swallow  is 
open  at  the  top,  and  like  half  a  deep  dish :  this  nest  is  lined 
with  fine  grasses,  and  feathers  which  are  often  collected  as  they 
float  in  the  air. 

Wonderful  is  the  address  which  this  adroit  bird  shews  all  day 
long  in  ascending  and  descending  with  security  through  so  narrow 
a  pass.  When  hovering  over  the  mouth  of  the  funnel,  the  vibra- 
tions of  her  wings  acting  on  the  confined  air  occasion  a  rumbling 
like  thunder.  It  is  not  improbable  that  the  dam  submits  to  this 
inconvenient  situation  so  low  in  the  shaft,  in  order  to  secure  her 
broods  from  rapacious  birds,  and  particularly  from  owls,  which 
frequently  fall  down  chimnies,  perhaps  in  attempting  to  get  at 
these  nestlings. 

The  swallow  lays  from  four  to  six  white  eggs,  dotted  with 
red  specks  ;  and  brings  out  her  first  brood  about  the  last  week  in 
June,  or  the  first  week  in  July.  The  progressive  method  by 
which  the  young  are  introduced  into  life  is  very  amusing :  first, 
they  emerge  from  the  shaft  with  difficulty  enough,  and  often  fall 
down  into  the  rooms  below  :  for  a  day  or  so  they  are  fed  on  the 
chimney-top,  and  then  are  conducted  to  the  dead  leafless  bough 
of  some  tree,  where,  sitting  in  a  row,  they  are  attended  with 
great  assiduity,  and  may  then  be  called  perchers.  In  a  day  or 
two  more  they  become  flyers,  but  are  still  unable  to  take  their 
own  food ;  therefore  they  play  about  near  the  place  where  the 
dams  are  hawking  for  flies ;  and,  when  a  mouthful  is  collected, 
at  a  certain  signal  given,  the  dam  and  the  nestling  advance, 
rising  towards  each  other,  and  meeting  at  an  angle  ;  the  young 
one  all  the  while  uttering  such  a  little  quick  note  of  gratitude  and 
complacency,  that  a  person  must  have  paid  very  little  regard  to 
the  wonders  of  Nature  that  has  not  often  remarked  this  feat. 

The  dam  betakes  herself  immediately  to  the  business  of  a  second 
brood  as  soon  as  she  is  disengaged  from  her  first ;  which  at  once 
associates  with  the  first  broods  of  house-martins ;  and  with  them 


138  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

congregates,  clustering  on  sunny  roofs,  towers,  and  trees.  This 
hirundo  brings  out  her  second  brood  towards  the  middle  and  end 
of  August. 

All  the  summer  long  is  the  swallow  a  most  instructive  pattern 
of  unwearied  industry  and  affection ;  for,  from  morning  to  night, 
while  there  is  a  family  to  be  supported,  she  spends  the  whole  day 
in  skimming  close  to  the  ground,  and  exerting  the  most  sudden 
turns  and  quick  evolutions.  Avenues,  and  long  walks  under 
hedges,  and  pasture-fields,  and  mown  meadows  where  cattle  graze, 
are  her  delight,  especially  if  there  are  trees  interspersed  ;  because 
in  such  spots  insects  most  abound.  When  a  fly  is  taken  a  smart 
snap  from  her  bill  is  heard,  resembling  the  noise  at  the  shutting 
of  a  watch-case ;  but  the  motion  of  the  mandibles  are  too  quick 
for  the  eye. 

The  swallow,  probably  the  male  bird,  is  the  excubitor  to  house- 
martins,  and  other  little  birds,  announcing  the  approach  of  birds 
of  prey.  For  as  soon  as  an  hawk  appears,  with  a  shrill  alarming 
note  he  calls  all  the  swallows  and  martins  about  him  ;  who  pursue 
in  a  body,  and  buffet  and  strike  their  enemy  till  they  have  driven 
him  from  the  village,  darting  down  from  above  on  his  back,  and 
rising  in  a  perpendicular  line  in  perfect  security.  This  bird  also 
will  sound  the  alarm,  and  strike  at  cats  when  they  climb  on  the 
roofs  of  houses,  or  otherwise  approach  the  nests.  Each  species  of 
hirundo  drinks  as  it  flies  along,  sipping  the  surface  of  the  water ; 
but  the  swallow  alone,  in  general,  washes  on  the  wing,  by  dropping 
into  a  pool  for  many  times  together :  in  very  hot  weather  house- 
martins  and  bank-martins  dip  and  wash  a  little. 

The  swallow  is  a  delicate  songster,  and  in  soft  sunny  weather 
sings  both  perching  and  flying  ;  on  trees  in  a  kind  of  concert,  and 
on  chimney  tops :  is  also  a  bold  flyer,  ranging  to  distant  downs 
and  commons  even  in  windy  weather,  which  the  other  species 
seem  much  to  dislike ;  nay,  even  frequenting  exposed  sea-port 
towns,  and  making  little  excursions  over  the  salt  water.  Horse- 
men on  wide  downs  are  often  closely  attended  by  a  little  party  of 
swallows  for  miles  together,  which  plays  before  and  behind  them, 
sweeping  around,  and  collecting  all  the  sculking  insects  that  are 
roused  by  the  trampling  of  the  horses'  feet :  when  the  wind  blows 
hard,  without  this  expedient,  they  are  often  forced  to  settle  to 
pick  up  their  lurking  prey. 

This  species  feeds  much  on  little  coleoptera,  as  well  as  on  gnats 
and  flies ;  and  often  settles  on  dug  ground,  or  paths,  for  gravels 
to  grind  and  digest  it's  food.  Before  they  depart,  for  some  weeks, 


OF  SELBORNE  139 

to  a  bird,  they  forsake  houses  and  chimnies,  and  roost  in  trees  ; 
and  usually  withdraw  about  the  beginning  of  October ;  though 
some  few  stragglers  may  appear  on  at  times  till  the  first  week  in 
November. 

Some  few  pairs  haunt  the  new  and  open  streets  of  L&nd<m  next 
the  fields,  but  do  not  enter,  like  the  house-martin,  the  close  and 
crowded  parts  of  the  city. 

Both  male  and  female  are  distinguished  from  their  congeners 
by  the  length  and  forkedness  of  their  tails.  They  are  undoubtedly 
the  most  nimble  of  all  the  species :  and  when  the  male  pursues 
the  female  in  amorous  chase,  they  then  go  beyond  their  usual 
speed,  and  exert  a  rapidity  almost  too  quick  for  the  eye  to  follow. 

After  this  circumstantial  detail  of  the  life  and  discerning  <rropyrj 
of  the  swallow,  I  shall  add,  for  your  farther  amusement,  an  anec- 
dote or  two  not  much  in  favour  of  her  sagacity  : — 

A  certain  swallow  built  for  two  years  together  on  the  handles 
of  a  pair  of  garden-shears,  that  were  stuck  up  against  the  boards 
in  an  out-house,  and  therefore  must  have  her  nest  spoiled  when- 
ever that  implement  was  wanted  :  and,  what  is  stranger  still, 
another  bird  of  the  same  species  built  it's  nest  on  the  wings  and 
body  of  an  owl  that  happened  by  accident  to  hang  dead  and  dry 
from  the  rafter  of  a  barn.  This  owl,  with  the  nest  on  it's  wings, 
and  with  eggs  in  the  nest,  was  brought  as  a  curiosity  worthy  the 
most  elegant  private  museum  in  Great-Britain.  The  owner,  struck 
with  the  oddity  of  the  sight,  furnished  the  bringer  with  a  large 
shell,  or  conch,  desiring  him  to  fix  it  just  where  the  owl  hung  : 
the  person  did  as  he  was  ordered,  and  the  following  year  a  pair, 
probably  the  same  pair,  built  their  nest  in  the  conch,  and  laid 
their  eggs. 

The  owl  and  the  conch  make  a  strange  grotesque  appearance, 
and  are  not  the  least  curious  specimens  in  that  wonderful  collec- 
tion of  art  and  nature.1 

Thus  is  instinct  in  animals,  taken  the  least  out  of  it's  way,  an 
undistinguishing,  limited  faculty  ;  and  blind  to  every  circumstance 
that  does  not  immediately  respect  self-preservation,  or  lead  at 
once  to  the  propagation  or  support  of  their  species. 

I  am, 
With  all  respect,  &c.  &c. 

1Sir  Ashton  Lever's  Musaeum. 


140  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

LETTER  XIX. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  Feb.  14,  1774. 
DEAR  SIR, 

I  RECEIVED  your  favour  of  the  eighth,  and  am  pleased  to  find 
that  you  read  my  little  history  of  the  swallow  with  your  usual 
candour :  nor  was  I  the  less  pleased  to  find  that  you  made 
objections  where  you  saw  reason. 

As  to  the  quotations,  it  is  difficult  to  say  precisely  which 
species  of  hirundo  Virgil  might  intend  in  the  lines  in  question, 
since  the  ancients  did  not  attend  to  specific  differences  like 
modern  naturalists :  yet  somewhat  may  be  gathered,  enough  to 
incline  me  to  suppose  that  in  the  two  passages  quoted  the  poet 
had  his  eye  on  the  swallow. 

In  the  first  place  the  epithet  garrula  suits  the  swallow  well, 
who  is  a  great  songster ;  and  not  the  martin,  which  is  rather  a 
mute  bird ;  and  when  it  sings  is  so  inward  as  scarce  to  be  heard. 
Besides,  if  lignum  in  that  place  signifies  a  rafter  rather  than  a 
beam,  as  it  seems  to  me  to  do,  then  I  think  it  must  be  the 
swallow  that  is  alluded  to,  and  not  the  martin  ;  since  the  former 
does  frequently  build  within  the  roof  against  the  rafters ;  while 
the  latter  always,  as  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  observe,  builds 
without  the  roof  against  eaves  and  cornices. 

As  to  the  simile,  too  much  stress  must  not  be  laid  on  it :  yet 
the  epithet  nigra  speaks  plainly  in  favour  of  the  swallow,  whose 
back  and  wings  are  very  black  ;  while  the  rump  of  the  martin  is 
milk-white,  it's  back  and  wings  blue,  and  all  it's  under  part 
white  as  snow.  Nor  can  the  clumsy  motions  (comparatively 
clumsy)  of  the  martin  well  represent  the  sudden  and  artful 
evolutions  and  quick  turns  which  Juturna  gave  to  her  brother's 
chariot,  so  as  to  elude  the  eager  pursuit  of  the  enraged  JEneas. 
The  verb  sonat  also  seems  to  imply  a  bird  that  is  somewhat 
loquacious.1 

i  • '  Nigra  velut  magnas  domini  cum  divitis  aedes 
' '  Pervolat,  et  pennis  alta  atria  lustrat  hirundo, 
"  Pabula  parva  legens,  nidisque  loquacibus  escas  : 
"  Et  nunc  porticibus  vacuis,  mine  humida  circum 
"  Stagna  sonat, ."  * 

*[,-£*.,  xii.,  473-477-] 


OF  SELBORNE  141 

We  have  had  a  very  wet  autumn  and  winter,  so  as  to  raise  the 
springs  to  a  pitch  beyond  any  thing  since  1764;  which  was  a 
remarkable  year  for  floods  and  high  waters.  The  land-springs, 
which  we  call  lavants,  break  out  much  on  the  downs  of  Sussex, 
Hampshire,  and  Wiltshire.  The  country  people  say  when  the 
lavants  rise  corn  will  always  be  dear ;  meaning  that  when  the 
earth  is  so  glutted  with  water  as  to  send  forth  springs  on  the 
downs  and  uplands,  that  the  corn-vales  must  be  drowned  :  and 
so  it  has  proved  for  these  ten  or  eleven  years  past.  For  land- 
springs  have  never  obtained  more  since  the  memory  of  man  than 
during  that  period  ;  nor  has  there  been  known  a  greater  scarcity 
of  all  sorts  of  grain,  considering  the  great  improvements  of 
modern  husbandry.  Such  a  run  of  wet  seasons  a  century  or  two 
ago  would,  I  am  persuaded,  have  occasioned  a  famine.  Therefore 
pamphlets  and  newspaper  letters,  that  talk  of  combinations,  tend 
to  inflame  and  mislead  ;  since  we  must  not  expect  plenty  till 
Providence  sends  us  more  favourable  seasons. 

The  wheat  of  last  year,  all  round  this  district,  and  in  the 
county  of  Rutland,  and  elsewhere,  yields  remarkably  bad :  and 
our  wheat  on  the  ground,  by  the  continual  late  sudden  vicissitudes 
from  fierce  frosts  to  pouring  rains,  looks  poorly ;  and  the  turnips 
rot  very  fast. 

I  am,  &c. 


LETTER  XX. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  Feb.  26,  1774. 
DEAR  SIR, 

THE  sand-martin,  or  bank-martin,  is  by  much  the  least  of  any  of 
the  British  hirundines ;  and,  as  far  as  we  have  ever  seen,  the 
smallest  known  hirundo :  though  Brisson  asserts  that  there  is  one 
much  smaller,  and  that  is  the  hirundo  esculenta. 

But  it  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  it  is  scarce  possible  for  any 
observer  to  be  so  full  and  exact  as  he  could  wish  in  reciting  the 
circumstances  attending  the  life  and  conversation  of  this  little 
bird,  since  it  is  fera  naturd,  at  least  in  this  part  of  the  kingdom, 
disclaiming  all  domestic  attachments,  and  haunting  wild  heaths 
and  commons  where  there  are  large  lakes :  while  the  other 
species,  especially  the  swallow  and  house-martin,  are  remarkably 


142  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

gentle  and  domesticated,  and  never  seem  to  think  themselves 
safe  but  under  the  protection  of  man. 

Here  are  in  this  parish,  in  the  sand-pits  and  banks  of  the 
lakes  of  Wolmer-forest,  several  colonies  of  these  birds ;  and  yet 
they  are  never  seen  in  the  village ;  nor  do  they  at  all  frequent 
the  cottages  that  are  scattered  about  in  that  wild  district.  The 
only  instance  I  ever  remember  where  this  species  haunts  any 
building  is  at  the  town  of  Bishop's  Waltham,  in  this  county, 
where  many  sand-martins  nestle  and  breed  in  the  scaffold-holes 
of  the  back-wall  of  William  of  Wykeham's  stables  :  but  then  this 
wall  stands  in  a  very  sequestered  and  retired  enclosure,  and 
faces  upon  a  large  and  beautiful  lake.  And  indeed  this  species 
seems  so  to  delight  in  large  waters,  that  no  instance  occurs  of 
their  abounding,  but  near  vast  pools  or  rivers  :  and  in  particular 
it  has  been  remarked  that  they  swarm  in  the  banks  of  the 
Thames  in  some  places  below  London-bridge. 

It  is  curious  to  observe  with  what  different  degrees  of  archi- 
tectonic skill  Providence  has  endowed  birds  of  the  same  genus, 
and  so  nearly  correspondent  in  their  general  mode  of  life !  for 
while  the  swallow  and  the  house-martin  discover  the  greatest 
address  in  raising  and  securely  fixing  crusts  or  shells  of  loam  as 
cunabula  for  their  young,  the  bank-martin  terebrates  a  round 
and  regular  hole  in  the  sand  or  earth,  which  is  serpentine, 
horizontal,  and  about  two  feet  deep.  At  the  inner  end  of  this 
burrow  does  this  bird  deposit,  in  a  good  degree  of  safety,  her 
rude  nest,  consisting  of  fine  grasses  and  feathers,  usually  goose- 
feathers,  very  inartificially  laid  together. 

Perseverance  will  accomplish  anything :  though  at  first  one 
would  be  disinclined  to  believe  that  this  weak  bird,  with  her 
soft  and  tender  bill  and  claws,  should  ever  be  able  to  bore  the 
stubborn  sand-bank  without  entirely  disabling  herself:  yet  with 
these  feeble  instruments  have  I  seen  a  pair  of  them  make  great 
dispatch  :  and  could  remark  how  much  they  had  scooped  that 
day  by  the  fresh  sand  which  ran  down  the  bank,  and  was  of  a 
different  colour  from  that  which  lay  loose  and  bleached  in  the 
sun. 

In  what  space  of  time  these  little  artists  are  able  to  mine  and 
finish  these  cavities  I  have  never  been  able  to  discover,  for 
reasons  given  above  ;  but  it  would  be  a  matter  worthy  of  obser- 
vation, where  it  falls  in  the  way  of  any  naturalist  to  make  his 
remarks.  This  I  have  often  taken  notice  of,  that  several  holes 
of  different  depths  are  left  unfinished  at  the  end  of  summer.  To 


OF  SELBORNE  143 

imagine  that  these  beginnings  were  intentionally  made  in  order 
to  be  in  the  greater  forwardness  for  next  spring,  is  allowing 
perhaps  too  much  foresight  and  rerum  prudentia  to  a  simple  bird. 
Mav  not  the  cause  of  these  latebrce  being  left  unfinished  arise 
from  their  meeting  in  those  places  with  strata  too  harsh,  hard, 
and  solid,  for  their  purpose,  which  they  relinquish,  and  go  to  a 
fresh  spot  that  works  more  freely  ?  Or  may  they  not  in  other 
places  fall  in  with  a  soil  as  much  too  loose  and  mouldering,  liable 
to  flounder,  and  threatening  to  overwhelm  them  and  their 
labours  ? 

One  thing  is  remarkable — that,  after  some  years,  the  old  holes 
are  forsaken  and  new  ones  bored ;  perhaps  because  the  old 
habitations  grow  foul  and  fetid  from  long  use,  or  because  they 
may  so  abound  with  fleas  as  to  become  untenantable.  This 
species  of  swallow  moreover  is  strangely  annoyed  with  fleas  :  and 
we  have  seen  fleas,  bed-fleas  (pulex  irntans),  swarming  at  the 
mouths  of  these  holes,  like  bees  on  the  stools  of  their  hives.1 

The  following  circumstance  should  by  no  means  be  omitted — 
that  these  birds  do  not  make  use  of  their  caverns  by  way  of 
hybernacula,  as  might  be  expected ;  since  banks  so  perforated 
have  been  dug  out  with  care  in  the  winter,  when  nothing  was 
found  but  empty  nests. 

The  sand-martin  arrives  much  about  the  same  time  with  the 
swallow,  and  lays,  as  she  does,  from  four  to  six  white  eggs.  But 
as  this  species  is  cri/ptogame,  carrying  on  the  business  of  nidifica- 
tion,  incubation,  and  the  support  of  it's  young  in  the  dark,  it 
would  not  be  so  easy  to  ascertain  the  time  of  breeding,  were  it 
not  for  the  coming  forth  of  the  broods,  which  appear  much  about 
the  time,  or  rather  somewhat  earlier  than  those  of  the  swallow. 
The  nestlings  are  supported  in  common  like  those  of  their 
congeners,  with  gnats  and  other  small  insects  ;  and  sometimes 
they  are  fed  with  libellulce  (dragon-flies)  almost  as  long  as  them- 
selves. In  the  last  week  in  June  we  have  seen  a  row  of  these 
sitting  on  a  rail  near  a  great  pool  as  perchers  ;  and  so  young  and 
helpless,  as  easily  to  be  taken  by  hand  :  but  whether  the  dams 
ever  feed  them  on  the  wing,  as  swallows  and  house-martins  do, 
we  have  never  yet  been  able  to  determine ;  nor  do  we  know 
whether  they  pursue  and  attack  birds  of  prey. 

When  they  happen  to  breed  near  hedges  and  enclosures,  they 

1  [The  flea  of  the  sand-martin  is  distinct,  not  only  from  the  bed-flea,  but  from 
the  flea  of  the  swallow.  ] 


144  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

are  dispossessed  of  their  breeding  holes  by  the  house-sparrow, 
which  is  on  the  same  account  a  fell  adversary  to  house-martins. 

These  hirundines  are  no  songsters,  but  rather  mute,  making 
only  a  little  harsh  noise  when  a  person  approaches  their  nests. 
They  seem  not  to  be  of  a  sociable  turn,  never  with  us  congre- 
gating with  their  congeners  in  the  autumn.  Undoubtedly  they 
breed  a  second  time,  like  the  house -martin  and  swallow ;  and 
withdraw  about  Michaelmas. 

Though  in  some  particular  districts  they  may  happen  to  abound, 
yet  in  the  whole,  in  the  south  of  England  at  least,  is  this  much 
the  rarest  species.  For  there  are  few  towns  or  large  villages 
but  what  abound  with  house-martins ;  few  churches,  towers,  or 
steeples,  but  what  are  haunted  by  some  swifts  ;  scarce  a  hamlet 
or  single  cottage -chimney  that  has  not  its  swallow ;  while  the 
bank-martins,  scattered  here  and  there,  live  a  sequestered  life 
among  some  abrupt  sand-hills,  and  in  the  banks  of  some  few 
rivers. 

These  birds  have  a  peculiar  manner  of  flying ;  flitting  about 
with  odd  jerks,  and  vacillations,  not  unlike  the  motions  of  a 
butterfly.  Doubtless  the  flight  of  all  hirundines  is  influenced  by, 
and  adapted  to,  the  peculiar  sort  of  insects  which  furnish  their 
food.  Hence  it  would  be  worth  inquiry  to  examine  what  parti- 
cular genus  of  insects  affords  the  principal  food  of  each  respective 
species  of  swallow. 

Notwithstanding  what  has  been  advanced  above,  some  few 
sand-martins,  I  see,  haunt  the  skirts  of  London,  frequenting  the 
dirty  pools  in  Saint  George  s- Fields,  and  about  White -Chapel.  The 
question  is  where  these  build,  since  there  are  no  banks  or  bold 
shores  in  that  neighbourhood  :  perhaps  they  nestle  in  the  scaffold 
holes  of  some  old  or  new  deserted  building.  They  dip  and  wash 
as  they  fly  sometimes,  like  the  house -mart  in  and  swallow. 

Sand-martins  differ  from  their  congeners  in  the  diminutiveness 
of  their  size,  and  in  their  colour,  which  is  what  is  usually  called 
a  mouse-colour.  Near  Valencia,  in  Spain,  they  are  taken,  says 
Willughby,  and  sold  in  the  markets  for  the  table ;  and  are  called 
by  the  country  people,  probably  from  their  desultory  jerking 
manner  of  flight,  Papilion  de  Montagna. 


OF  SELBORNE  145 

LETTER  XXI. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  Sept.  28,  1774. 
DEAR  SIR, 

As  the  swift  or  black-martin  is  the  largest  of  the  British  hirundines,1 
so  is  it  undoubtedly  the  latest  comer.  For  I  remember  but  one 
instance  of  it's  appearing  before  the  last  week  in  April :  and  in 
some  of  our  late  frosty,  harsh  springs,  it  has  not  been  seen  till 
the  beginning  of  May.  This  species  usually  arrives  in  pairs. 

The  swift,  like  the  sand-martin,  is  very  defective  in  architecture, 
making  no  crust,  or  shell,  for  it's  nest ;  but  forming  it  of  dry 
grasses  and  feathers,  very  rudely  and  inartificially  put  together. 
With  all  my  attention  to  these  birds,  I  have  never  been  able  once 
to  discover  one  in  the  act  of  collecting  or  carrying  in  materials  : 
so  that  I  have  suspected  (since  their  nests  are  exactly  the  same) 
that  they  sometimes  usurp  upon  the  house-sparrows,  and  expel 
them,  as  sparrows  do  the  house  and  sand-martin ;  well  remember- 
ing that  I  have  seen  them  squabbling  together  at  the  entrance  of 
their  holes  ;  and  the  sparrows  up  in  arms,  and  much  disconcerted 
at  these  intruders.  And  yet  I  am  assured,  by  a  nice  observer  in  such 
matters,  that  they  do  collect  feathers  for  their  nests  in  Andalusia  ; 
and  that  he  has  shot  them  with  such  materials  in  their  mouths.2 

Swifts,  like  sand-martins,  carry  on  the  business  of  nidification 
quite  in  the  dark,  in  crannies  of  castles,  and  towers,  and  steeples, 
and  upon  the  tops  of  the  walls  of  churches  under  the  roof;  and 
therefore  cannot  be  so  narrowly  watched  as  those  species  that 
build  more  openly  :  but,  from  what  I  could  ever  observe,  they 
begin  nesting  about  the  middle  of  May  ;  and  I  have  remarked, 
from  eggs  taken,  that  they  have  sat  hard  by  the  ninth  of  June. 
In  general  they  haunt  tall  buildings,  churches,  and  steeples,  and 
breed  only  in  such :  yet  in  this  village  some  pairs  frequent  the 
lowest  and  meanest  cottages,  and  educate  their  young  under  those 

1  [The  swift  (Cypselus  apus,  L.)  is  now  included  with  the  woodpeckers,  bee-eaters, 
etc. ,  in  the  order  Picaria,  and  is  removed  far  away  from  the  Hirundinidce.  White 
notes  in  this  letter  several  of  the  points  of  difference  between  the  two  European 
swifts  and  the  Hirundinidce^  which  they  superficially  resemble,  and  also  mentions 
Scopoli's  proposal  to  place  them  in  a  genus  by  themselves  ;  but  he  naturally  accented 
the  Linnean  classification.  He  never  interfered  in  matters  which  demanded  a  wider 
knowledge  than  his  own.] 

2 [His  brother,  John  White,  then  chaplain  at  Gibraltar.] 

10 


146  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

thatched  roofs.  We  remember  but  one  instance  where  they  breed 
out  of  buildings  ;  and  that  is  in  the  sides  of  a  deep  chalkpit  near 
the  town  of  Odiham,  in  this  county,  where  we  have  seen  many 
pairs  entering  the  crevices,  and  skimming  and  squeaking  round 
the  precipices. 

As  I  have  regarded  these  amusive  birds  with  no  small  attention, 
if  I  should  advance  something  new  and  peculiar  with  respect  to 
them,  and  different  from  all  other  birds,  I  might  perhaps  be 
credited ;  especially  as  my  assertion  is  the  result  of  many  years 
exact  observation.  The  fact  that  I  would  advance  is,  that  swifts 
tread,  or  copulate,  on  the  wing :  and  I  would  wish  any  nice 
observer,  that  is  startled  at  this  supposition,  to  use  his  own  eyes, 
and  I  think  he  will  soon  be  convinced.  In  another  class  of 
animals,  viz.  the  insect,  nothing  is  so  common  as  to  see  the  different 
species  of  many  genera  in  conjunction  as  they  fly.  The  swift  is 
almost  continually  on  the  wing ;  and  as  it  never  settles  on  the 
ground,  on  trees,  or  roofs,  would  seldom  find  opportunity  for 
amorous  rites,  was  it  not  enabled  to  indulge  them  in  the  air.  If 
any  person  would  watch  these  birds  of  a  fine  morning  in  May,  as 
they  are  sailing  round  at  a  great  height  from  the  ground,  he  would 
see,  every  now  and  then,  one  drop  on  the  back  of  another,  and 
both  of  them  sink  down  together  for  many  fathoms  with  a  loud 
piercing  shriek.  This  I  take  to  be  the  juncture  when  the  business 
of  generation  is  carrying  on. 

As  the  swift  eats,  drinks,  collects  materials  for  it's  nest,  and,  as 
it  seems,  propagates  on  the  wing ;  it  appears  to  live  more  in  the 
air  than  any  other  bird,  and  to  perform  all  functions  there  save 
those  of  sleeping  and  incubation. 

This  hirundo  differs  widely  from  it's  congeners  in  laying  invari- 
ably but  two  eggs  at  a  time,  which  are  milk-white,  long,  and  peaked 
at  the  small  end ;  whereas  the  other  species  lay  at  each  brood 
from  four  to  six.  It  is  a  most  alert  bird,  rising  very  early,  and 
retiring  to  roost  very  late ;  and  is  on  the  wing  in  the  height  of 
summer  at  least  sixteen  hours.  In  the  longest  days  it  does  not 
withdraw  to  rest  till  a  quarter  before  nine  in  the  evening,  being 
the  latest  of  all  day  birds.  Just  before  they  retire  whole  groups 
of  them  assemble  high  in  the  air,  and  squeak,  and  shoot  about 
with  wonderful  rapidity.  But  this  bird  is  never  so  much  alive  as 
in  sultry  thundry  weather,  when  it  expresses  great  alacrity,  and 
calls  forth  all  it's  powers.  In  hot  mornings  several,  getting  to- 
gether in  little  parties,  dash  round  the  steeples  and  churches, 
squeaking  as  they  go  in  a  very  clamorous  manner :  these,  by  nice 


OF  SELBORNE  147 

observers,  are  supposed  to  be  males,  serenading  their  sitting  hens  ; 
and  not  without  reason,  since  they  seldom  squeak  till  they  come 
close  to  the  walls  or  eaves,  and  since  those  within  utter  at  the 
same  time  a  little  inward  note  of  complacency. 

When  the  hen  has  sat  hard  all  day,  she  rushes  forth  just  as  it 
is  almost  dark,  and  stretches  and  relieves  her  weary  limbs,  and 
snatches  a  scanty  meal  for  a  few  minutes,  and  then  returns  to  her 
duty  of  incubation.  Swifts,  when  wantonly  and  cruelly  shot  while 
they  have  young,  discover  a  little  lump  of  insects  in  their  mouths, 
which  they  pouch  and  hold  under  their  tongue.  In  general  they 
feed  in  a  much  higher  district  than  the  other  species ;  a  proof 
that  gnats  and  other  insects  do  also  abound  to  a  considerable  height 
in  the  air :  they  also  range  to  vast  distances  ;  since  loco-motion 
is  no  labour  to  them,  who  are  endowed  with  such  wonderful  powers 
of  wing.  Their  powers  seem  to  be  in  proportion  to  their  leavers  ; 
and  their  wings  are  longer  in  proportion  than  those  of  almost  any 
other  bird.  When  they  mute,  or  ease  themselves  in  flight,  they 
raise  their  wings,  and  make  them  meet  over  their  backs. 

At  some  certain  times  in  the  summer  I  had  remarked  that 
swifts  were  hawking  very  low  for  hours  together  over  pools  and 
streams ;  and  could  not  help  inquiring  into  the  object  of  their 
pursuit  that  induced  them  to  descend  so  much  below  their  usual 
range.  After  some  trouble,  I  found  that  they  were  taking  phry- 
ganecB,  ephemeras,  and  libellulw  (cadew-flies,  may-flies,  and  dragon- 
flies)  that  were  just  emerged  out  of  their  aurelia  state.  I  then 
no  longer  wondered  that  they  should  be  so  willing  to  stoop  for  a 
prey  that  afforded  them  such  plentiful  and  succulent  nourishment. 

They  bring  out  their  young  about  the  middle  or  latter  end  of 
July  :  but  as  these  never  become  perchers,  nor,  that  ever  I  could 
discern,  are  fed  on  the  wing  by  their  dams,  the  coming  forth  of 
the  young  is  not  so  notorious  as  in  the  other  species. 

On  the  thirtieth  of  last  June  I  untiled  the  eaves  of  an  house 1 
where  many  pairs  build,  and  found  in  each  nest  only  two  squab 
naked  pulli :  on  the  eighth  of  July  I  repeated  the  same  inquiry, 
and  found  they  had  made  very  little  progress  towards  a  fledged 
state,  but  were  still  naked  and  helpless.  From  whence  we  may 
conclude  that  birds  whose  way  of  life  keeps  them  perpetually  on 
the  wing  would  not  be  able  to  quit  their  nest  till  the  end  of  the 
month.  Swallows  and  martins,  that  have  numerous  families,  are 


1  [His  brother  Henry's  house  at  Fyfield.     See  Letter  to  John  White,  July  15, 1774 
(Bell's  ed.,  voL  ii.f  p.  33).] 


148  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

continually  feeding  them  every  two  or  three  minutes  ;  while  swifts, 
that  have  but  two  young  to  maintain,  are  much  at  their  leisure, 
and  do  not  attend  on  their  nests  for  hours  together. 

Sometimes  they  pursue  and  strike  at  hawks  that  come  in  their 
way  ;  but  not  with  that  vehemence  and  fury  that  swallows  express 
on  the  same  occasion.  They  are  out  all  day  long  in  wet  days, 
feeding  about,  and  disregarding  still  rain  :  from  whence  two  things 
may  be  gathered ;  first,  that  many  insects  abide  high  in  the  air, 
even  in  rain ;  and  next,  that  the  feathers  of  these  birds  must  be 
well  preened  to  resist  so  much  wet.  Windy,  and  particularly  windy 
weather  with  heavy  showers,  they  dislike  ;  and  on  such  days  with- 
draw, and  are  scarce  ever  seen. 

There  is  a  circumstance  respecting  the  colour  of  swifts,  which 
seems  not  to  be  unworthy  our  attention.  When  they  arrive  in 
the  spring  they  are  all  over  of  a  glossy,  dark  soot-colour,  except 
their  chins,  which  are  white  ;  but,  by  being  all  day  long  in  the  sun 
and  air,  they  become  quite  weather-beaten  and  bleached  before 
they  depart,  and  yet  they  return  glossy  again  in  the  spring.  Now, 
if  they  pursue  the  sun  into  lower  latitudes,  as  some  suppose,  in 
order  to  enjoy  a  perpetual  summer,  why  do  they  not  return 
bleached  ?  Do  they  not  rather  perhaps  retire  to  rest  for  a  season, 
and  at  that  juncture  moult  and  change  their  feathers,  since  all 
other  birds  are  known  to  moult  soon  after  the  season  of  breeding  ? l 

Swifts  are  very  anomalous  in  many  particulars,  dissenting  from 
all  their  congeners  not  only  in  the  number  of  their  young,  but  in 
breeding  but  once  in  a  summer ;  whereas  all  the  other  British 
hirundines  breed  invariably  twice.  It  is  past  all  doubt  that  swifts 
can  breed  but  once,  since  they  withdraw  in  a  short  time  after  the 
flight  of  their  young,  and  some  time  before  their  congeners  bring 
out  their  second  brood.  We  may  here  remark,  that,  as  swifts 
breed  but  once  in  a  summer,  and  only  two  at  a  time,  and  the 
other  hirundines  twice,  the  latter,  who  lay  from  four  to  six  eggs, 
increase  at  an  average  five  times  as  fast  as  the  former. 

But  in  nothing  are  swifts  more  singular  than  in  their  early 
retreat.  They  retire,  as  to  the  main  body  of  them,  by  the  tenth 
of  August,  and  sometimes  a  few  days  sooner :  and  every  straggler 
invariably  withdraws  by  the  twentieth,  while  their  congeners,  all 
of  them,  stay  till  the  beginning  of  October ;  many  of  them  all 

1  [The  swift,  like  the  swallow,  moults  after  it  leaves  us.  The  ' '  bleaching  "  of  the 
feathers  here  alluded  to,  is  not  so  much  the  result  of  the  sun's  heat,  as  of  the  wear 
and  tear  of  constant  rapid  flight.  The  edges  of  the  feathers  become  worn,  and  lose 
their  glossy  appearance.] 


OF  SELBORNE  149 

through  that  month,  and  some  occasionally  to  the  beginning  of 
\orember.  This  early  retreat  is  mysterious  and  wonderful,  since 
that  time  is  often  the  sweetest  season  in  the  year.  But,  what  is 
more  extraordinary,  they  begin  to  retire  still  earlier  in  the  most 
southerly  parts  of  Andalusia,  where  they  can  be  no  ways  influenced 
by  any  defect  of  heat ;  or,  as  one  might  suppose,  defect  of  food.1 
Are  they  regulated  in  their  motions  with  us  by  a  failure  of  food, 
or  by  a  propensity  to  moulting,  or  by  a  disposition  to  rest  after 
so  rapid  a  life,  or  by  what  ?  This  is  one  of  those  incidents  in 
natural  history  that  not  only  baffles  our  searches,  but  almost 
eludes  our  guesses ! 

These  hirundines  never  perch  on  trees  or  roofs,  and  so  never 
congregate  with  their  congeners.  They  are  fearless  while  haunt- 
ing their  nesting  places,  and  are  not  to  be  scared  with  a  gun ; 
and  are  often  beaten  down  with  poles  and  cudgels  as  they  stoop 
to  go  under  the  eaves.  Swifts  are  much  infested  with  those  pests 
to  the  genus  called  kippoboscce  hirundinis  ;  and  often  wriggle  and 
scratch  themselves,  in  their  flight,  to  get  rid  of  that  clinging 
annoyance. 

Swifts  are  no  songsters,  and  have  only  one  harsh  screaming 
note  ;  yet  there  are  ears  to  which  it  is  not  displeasing,  from  an 
agreeable  association  of  ideas,  since  that  note  never  occurs  but  in 
the  most  lovely  summer  weather. 

They  never  settle  on  the  ground  but  through  accident ;  and 
when  down  can  hardly  rise,  on  account  of  the  shortness  of  their 
legs  and  the  length  of  their  wings :  neither  can  they  walk,  but 
only  crawl ;  but  they  have  a  strong  grasp  with  their  feet,  by 
which  they  cling  to  walls.  Their  bodies  being  flat  they  can 
enter  a  very  narrow  crevice ;  and  where  they  cannot  pass  on 
their  bellies  they  will  turn  up  edgewise. 

The  particular  formation  of  the  foot  discriminates  the  swift 
from  all  the  British  hirundines ;  and  indeed  from  all  other  known 
birds,  the  hirundo  inelba,  or  great  white-bellied  swift  of  Gibraltar, 
excepted  ;  for  it  is  so  disposed  as  to  carry  "  omues  quatuor  digitos 
anticofi"  all  it's  four  toes  forward;  besides  the  least  toe,  which 
should  be  the  back-toe,  consists  of  one  bone  alone,  and  the  other 
three  only  of  two  apiece.  A  construction  most  rare  and  peculiar, 
but  nicely  adapted  to  the  purposes  in  which  their  feet  are  em- 

1  [This  observation  of  John  White,  chaplain  at  Gibraltar,  is  hardly  confirmed 
by  Col.  Irby,  who  says  that  the  majority  of  the  swifts  leave  by  the  end  of  August, 
some  staying  on  till  the  middle  of  September  (Ornithology  of  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar, 
p.  122).] 


150  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

ployed.  This,  and  some  peculiarities  attending  the  nostrils  and 
under  mandible,  have  induced  a  discerning l  naturalist  to  suppose 
that  this  species  might  constitute  a  genus  per  se. 

In  London  a  party  of  swifts  frequents  the  Tower,  playing  and 
feeding  over  the  river  just  below  the  bridge  :  others  haunt  some 
of  the  churches  of  the  Borough  next  the  fields  ;  but  do  not  venture, 
like  the  house-martin,  into  the  close  crowded  part  of  the  town. 

The  Swedes  have  bestowed  a  very  pertinent  name  on  this 
swallow,  calling  it  ring  swala,  from  the  perpetual  rings  or  circles 
that  it  takes  round  the  scene  of  it's  nidification. 

Swifts  feed  on  coleoptera,  or  small  beetles  with  hard  cases  over 
their  wings,  as  well  as  on  the  softer  insects ;  but  it  does  not 
appear  how  they  can  procure  gravel  to  grind  their  food,  as 
swallows  do,  since  they  never  settle  on  the  ground.  Young 
ones,  over-run  with  hippoboscce,  are  sometimes  found,  under  their 
nests,  fallen  to  the  ground :  the  number  of  vermin  rendering 
their  abode  insupportable  any  longer.  They  frequent  in  this 
village  several  abject  cottages ;  yet  a  succession  still  haunts  the 
same  unlikely  roofs  :  a  good  proof  this  that  the  same  birds  return 
to  the  same  spots.  As  they  must  stoop  very  low  to  get  up  under 
these  humble  eaves,  cats  lie  in  wait,  and  sometimes  catch  them  on 
the  wing. 

On  the  fifth  of  July,  177 '5,  I  again  untiled  part  of  a  roof  over 
the  nest  of  a  swift.  The  dam  sat  in  the  nest ;  but  so  strongly 
was  she  affected  by  natural  a-ropyq  for  her  brood,  which  she 
supposed  to  be  in  danger,  that,  regardless  of  her  own  safety,  she 
would  not  stir,  but  lay  sullenly  by  them,  permitting  herself  to  be 
taken  in  hand.  The  squab  young  we  brought  down  and  placed 
on  the  grass-plot,  where  they  tumbled  about,  and  were  as  help- 
less as  a  new-born  child.  While  we  contemplated  their  naked 
bodies,  their  unwieldy  disproportioned  abdomina,  and  their  heads, 
too  heavy  for  their  necks  to  support,  we  could  not  but  wonder 
when  we  reflected  that  these  shiftless  beings  in  a  little  more  than 
a  fortnight  would  be  able  to  dash  through  the  air  almost  with 
the  inconceivable  swiftness  of  a  meteor ;  and  perhaps,  in  their 
emigration,  must  traverse  vast  continents  and  oceans  as  distant 
as  the  equator.  So  soon  does  Nature  advance  small  birds  to 
their  fjXuaa.,  or  state  of  perfection  ;  while  the  progressive  growth 
of  men  and  large  quadrupeds  is  slow  and  tedious ! 

I  am,  &c. 

1  John  Antony  Scopoli,  of  Carniola,  M.D, 


OF  SELBORNE  151 

LETTER  XXII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  Sept.  13,  1774. 
DEAR  SIR, 

BY  means  of  a  straight  cottage-chimney  I  had  an  opportunity 
this  summer  of  remarking,  at  my  leisure,  how  swallows  ascend 
and  descend  through  the  shaft :  but  my  pleasure,  in  contemplating 
the  address  with  which  this  feat  was  performed  to  a  considerable 
depth  in  the  chimney,  was  somewhat  interrupted  by  apprehensions 
lest  my  eyes  might  undergo  the  same  fate  with  those  of  Tobit.1 

Perhaps  it  may  be  some  amusement  to  you  to  hear  at  what 
times  the  different  species  of  hirundines  arrived  this  spring  in 
three  very  distant  counties  of  this  kingdom.  With  us  the 
swallow  was  seen  first  on  April  the  4th,  the  swift  on  April  the 
24th,  the  bank-martin  on  April  the  12th,  and  the  house-martin 
not  till  April  the  30th.  At  South  Zele,  Devonshire,  swallows  did 
not  arrive  till  April  the  25th ;  swifts,  in  plenty,  on  May  the  1st ; 
and  house-martins  not  till  the  middle  of  May.  At  Blackburn,  in 
Lancashire,  swifts  were  seen  April  the  28th,  swallows  April  the 
29th,  house-martins  May  the  1st.  Do  these  different  dates,  in 
such  distant  districts,  prove  any  thing  for  or  against  migration  ? 

A  farmer,  near  Weyhill,  fallows  his  land  with  two  teams  of 
asses ;  one  of  which  works  till  noon,  and  the  other  in  the  after- 
noon. When  these  animals  have  done  their  work,  they  are 
penned  all  night,  like  sheep,  on  the  fallow.  In  the  winter 
they  are  confined  and  foddered  in  a  yard,  and  make  plenty  of 
dung. 

Linnaus  says  that  hawks  " paciscuntur  inducias  cum  ambus,  quamdiu 
cuculus  cuculat "  :  2  but  it  appears  to  me  that,  during  that  period, 
many  little  birds  are  taken  and  destroyed  by  birds  of  prey,  as 
may  be  seen  by  their  feathers  left  in  lanes  and  under  hedges. 

The  missel-thrush  is,  while  breeding,  fierce  and  pugnacious, 
driving  such  birds  as  approach  it's  nest,  with  great  fury,  to  a 

1  Tobit,  ii.  10. 

2  [This  curious  statement  of  Linnaeus  that  hawks  ' '  make  a  truce  with  small  birds 
as  long  as  the  cuckoo's  voice  is  heard"  may  possibly  have  its  origin  in  Aristotle, 
who,  while  combating  the  vulgar  notion  that   the  cuckoo  changes  into  a  hawk, 
admits  that  few  hawks  can  be  seen  during  the  time  when  the  cuckoo  is  singing  (,7w/. 
A  nim. ,  Bk.  vi. ,  p.  7).    This  may  be  explained  by  the  spring  migration  of  hawks  north- 
ward in  the  east  of  Europe.] 


152  THE  NATURAL  HISTOEY 

distance.  The  Welch  call  it  pen  y  llrvyn,  the  head  or  master  of 
the  coppice.  He  suffers  no  magpie,  jay,  or  blackbird,  to  enter 
the  garden  where  he  haunts ;  and  is,  for  the  time,  a  good  guard 
to  the  new-sown  legumens.  In  general  he  is  very  successful  in 
the  defence  of  his  family :  but  once  I  observed  in  my  garden, 
that  several  magpies  came  determined  to  storm  the  nest  of  a 
missel-thrush  :  the  dams  defended  their  mansion  with  great 
vigour,  and  fought  resolutely  pro  arts  fy  focis ;  but  numbers  at 
last  prevailed,  they  tore  the  nest  to  pieces,  and  swallowed  the 
young  alive. 

In  the  season  of  nidification  the  wildest  birds  are  comparatively 
tame.  Thus  the  ring-dove  breeds  in  my  fields,  though  they  are 
continually  frequented ;  and  the  missel-thrush,  though  most  shy 
and  wild  in  the  autumn  and  winter,  builds  in  my  garden  close  to 
a  walk  where  people  are  passing  all  day  long.1 

Wall-fruit  abounds  with  me  this  year  ;  but  my  grapes,  that 
used  to  be  forward  and  good,  are  at  present  backward  beyond 
all  precedent :  and  this  is  not  the  worst  of  the  story ;  for  the 
same  ungenial  weather,  the  same  black  cold  solstice,  has  injured 
the  more  necessary  fruits  of  the  earth,  and  discoloured  and  blighted 
our  wheat.  The  crop  of  hops  promises  to  be  very  large. 

Frequent  returns  of  deafness  incommode  me  sadly,  and  half 
disqualify  me  for  a  naturalist ;  for,  when  those  fits  are  upon  me, 
I  lose  all  the  pleasing  notices  and  little  intimations  arising  from 
rural  sounds ;  and  May  is  to  me  as  silent  and  mute  with  respect 
to  the  notes  of  birds,  &c.  as  August.  My  eyesight  is,  thank  God, 
quick  and  good ;  but  with  respect  to  the  other  sense,  I  am,  at 
times,  disabled : 

"  And  Wisdom  at  one  entrance  quite  shut  out."  2 


1  [Bell  notes  on  this  passage  that  these  two  species  still  keep  up  their  familiarity 
with  the  same  spots.     The  ringdove  builds  in  the  grounds  near  the  house,  and  the 
missel-thrush  "has  its  nest  every  year  in  the  spot  indicated  in  the  text".     (As  I 
write  this  note,  a  missel-thrush  is  building  in  an  apple-tree  close  to  my  garden-walk, 
and  not  twenty  yards  from  the  house.)] 

2  [Paradise  Lost,  iii.,  50.] 


DEAR  SIR, 


OF  SELBORNE  153 

LETTER  XXIII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  June  8,  1775. 


ON  September  the  21st,  174],  being  then  on  a  visit,  and  intent  on 
field-diversions,  I  rose  before  daybreak  :  when  I  came  into  the 
enclosures,  I  found  the  stubbles  and  clover-grounds  matted  all 
over  with  a  thick  coat  of  cobweb,  in  the  meshes  of  which  a 
copious  and  heavy  dew  hung  so  plentifully  that  the  whole  face 
of  the  country  seemed,  as  it  were,  covered  with  two  or  three 
setting-nets  drawn  one  over  another.  When  the  dogs  attempted 
to  hunt,  their  eyes  were  so  blinded  and  hoodwinked  that  they 
could  not  proceed,  but  were  obliged  to  lie  down  and  scrape  the 
incumbrances  from  their  faces  with  their  fore-feet,  so  that,  finding 
my  sport  interrupted,  I  returned  home  musing  in  my  mind  on  the 
oddness  of  the  occurrence. 

As  the  morning  advanced  the  sun  became  bright  and  warm, 
and  the  day  turned  out  one  of  those  most  lovely  ones  which  no 
season  but  the  autumn  produces  ;  cloudless,  calm,  serene,  and 
worthy  of  the  South  of  France  itself. 

About  nine  an  appearance  very  unusual  began  to  demand  our 
attention,  a  shower  of  cobwebs  falling  from  very  elevated  regions, 
and  continuing,  without  any  interruption,  till  the  close  of  the  day. 
These  webs  were  not  single  filmy  threads,  floating  in  the  air  in 
all  directions,  but  perfect  flakes  or  rags  ;  some  near  an  inch 
broad,  and  five  or  six  long,  which  fell  with  a  degree  of  velocity 
which  shewed  they  were  considerably  heavier  than  the  atmosphere. 

On  every  side  as  the  observer  turned  his  eyes  might  he  behold 
a  continual  succession  of  fresh  flakes  falling  into  his  sight,  and 
twinkling  like  stars  as  they  turned  their  sides  towards  the  sun. 

How  far  this  wonderful  shower  extended  would  be  difficult  to 
say  ;  but  we  know  that  it  reached  Bradley,  Selborne,  and  Alresford, 
three  places  which  lie  in  a  sort  of  a  triangle,  the  shortest  of  whose 
sides  is  about  eight  miles  in  extent. 

At  the  second  of  those  places  there  was  a  gentleman  (for  whose 
veracity  and  intelligent  turn  we  have  the  greatest  veneration)  who 
observed  it  the  moment  he  got  abroad  ;  but  concluded  that,  as 
soon  as  he  came  upon  the  hill  above  his  house,  where  he  took 
his  morning  rides,  he  should  be  higher  than  this  meteor,  which 
he  imagined  might  have  been  blown,  like  Thistle-donm,  from  the 


154  THE  NATUEAL  HISTORY 

common  above  :  but,  to  his  great  astonishment,  when  he  rode  to 
the  most  elevated  part  of  the  down,  300  feet  above  his  fields,  he 
found  the  webs  in  appearance  still  as  much  above  him  as  before ; 
still  descending  into  sight  in  a  constant  succession,  and  twinkling 
in  the  sun,  so  as  to  draw  the  attention  of  the  most  incurious. 

Neither  before  nor  after  was  any  such  fall  observed ;  but  on 
this  day  the  flakes  hung  in  the  trees  and  hedges  so  thick,  that  a 
diligent  person  sent  out  might  have  gathered  baskets  full. 

The  remark  that  I  shall  make  on  these  cobweb-like  appearances, 
called  gossamer,  is,  that,  strange  and  superstitious  as  the  notions 
about  them  were  formerly,  nobody  in  these  days  doubts  but  that 
they  are  the  real  production  of  small  spiders,  which  swarm  in  the 
fields  in  fine  weather  in  autumn,  and  have  a  power  of  shooting 
out  webs  from  their  tails  so  as  to  render  themselves  buoyant,  and 
lighter  than  air.  But  why  these  apterous  insects  should  that  day 
take  such  a  wonderful  aerial  excursion,  and  why  their  webs  should 
at  once  become  so  gross  and  material  as  to  be  considerably  more 
weighty  than  air,  and  to  descend  with  precipitation,  is  a  matter 
beyond  my  skill.  If  I  might  be  allowed  to  hazard  a  supposition, 
I  should  imagine  that  those  filmy  threads,  when  first  shot,  might 
be  entangled  in  the  rising  dew,  and  so  drawn  up,  spiders  and  all, 
by  a  brisk  evaporation  into  the  region  where  clouds  are  formed  : 
and  if  the  spiders  have  a  power  of  coiling  and  thickening  their  webs 
in  the  air,  as  Dr.  Lister  says  they  have  [see  his  Letters  to  Mr.  Ray~\ 
then,  when  they  were  become  heavier  than  the  air,  they  must  fall. 

Every  day  in  fine  weather,  in  autumn  chiefly,  do  I  see  those 
spiders  shooting  out  their  webs  and  mounting  aloft :  they  will  go 
off  from  your  finger  if  you  will  take  them  into  your  hand.  Last 
summer  one  alighted  on  my  book  as  I  was  reading  in  the  parlour  ; 
and,  running  to  the  top  of  the  page,  and  shooting  out  a  web,  took 
it's  departure  from  thence.  But  what  I  most  wondered  at  was, 
that  it  went  off  with  considerable  velocity  in  a  place  where  no 
air  was  stirring ;  and  I  am  sure  that  I  did  not  assist  it  with  my 
breath.  So  that  these  little  crawlers  seem  to  have,  while  mount- 
ing, some  loco-motive  power  without  the  use  of  wings,  and  to 
move  in  the  air  faster  than  the  air  itself.1 

1  [Since  White's  time  the  curious  subject  of  gossamer  has  been  investigated  by 
Blackwall  (Linn.  Trans. ,  xv.,  and  British  Spiders).  Dr.  Lincecum's  account  of  the 
gossamer  spider  of  Texas  (Amer.  Nat.,  viii.)  and  Darwin's  Naturalist's  Voyage, 
chap,  viii.,  may  also  be  read  with  advantage.  White's  excellent  description  needs  no 
comment,  except  that  his  supposition  that  the  filmy  threads  "  might  be  entangled 
in  the  rising  dew"  is  quite  impossible.  His  physical  notions  were  evidently  taken 
from  Hales'  Statical  Essays.~\ 


DEAR  SIR, 


OF  SELBORNE  155 

LETTER  XXIV. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  Aug.  15,  1775. 


THERE  is  a  wonderful  spirit  of  sociality  in  the  brute  creation, 
independent  of  sexual  attachment :  the  congregating  of  gregarious 
birds  in  the  winter  is  a  remarkable  instance.1 

Many  horses,  though  quiet  with  company,  will  not  stay  one 
minute  in  a  field  by  themselves  :  the  strongest  fences  cannot 
restrain  them.  My  neighbour's  horse  will  not  only  not  stay  by 
himself  abroad,  but  he  will  not  bear  to  be  left  alone  in  a  strange 
stable  without  discovering  the  utmost  impatience,  and  endeavour- 
ing to  break  the  rack  and  manger  with  his  fore  feet.  He  has 
been  known  to  leap  out  at  a  stable-window,  through  which  dung 
was  thrown,  after  company ;  and  yet  in  other  respects  is  remark- 
ably quiet.  Oxen  and  cows  will  not  fatten  by  themselves ;  but 
will  neglect  the  finest  pasture  that  is  not  recommended  by  society. 
It  would  be  needless  to  instance  in  sheep,  which  constantly  flock 
together. 

But  this  propensity  seems  not  to  be  confined  to  animals  of  the 
same  species ;  for  we  know  a  doe,  still  alive,  that  was  brought  up 
from  a  little  fawn  with  a  dairy  of  cows  ;  with  them  it  goes  a-field, 
and  with  them  it  returns  to  the  yard.  The  dogs  of  the  house  take 
no  notice  of  this  deer,  being  used  to  her ;  but,  if  strange  dogs 
come  by,  a  chase  ensues;  while  the  master  smiles  to  see  his 
favourite  securely  leading  her  pursuers  over  hedge,  or  gate,  or 
stile,  till  she  returns  to  the  cows,  who,  with  fierce  lowings  and 
menacing  horns,  drive  the  assailants  quite  out  of  the  pasture. 

Even  great  disparity  of  kind  and  size  does  not  always  prevent 
social  advances  and  mutual  fellowship.  For  a  very  intelligent 
and  observant  person  has  assured  me  that,  in  the  former  part  of 
his  life,  keeping  but  one  horse,  he  happened  also  on  a  time  to 
have  but  one  solitary  hen.  These  two  incongruous  animals  spent 
much  of  their  time  together  in  a  lonely  orchard,  where  they  saw 
no  creature  but  each  other.  By  degrees  an  apparent  regard  began 
to  take  place  between  these  two  sequestered  individuals.  The 
fowl  would  approach  the  quadruped  with  notes  of  complacency, 

1  [See  Letter  XI.  to  Harrington.  The  present  letter  is  printed  in  Harrington's 
Miscellanies,  p.  251.] 


156  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

rubbing  herself  gently  against  his  legs :  while  the  horse  would 
look  down  with  satisfaction,  and  move  with  the  greatest  caution 
and  circumspection,  lest  he  should  trample  on  his  diminutive 
companion.  Thus,  by  mutual  good  offices,  each  seemed  to  con- 
sole the  vacant  hours  of  the  other :  so  that  Milton,  when  he  puts 
the  following  sentiment  in  the  mouth  of  Adam,  seems  to  be  some- 
what mistaken : 

"  Much  less  can  bird  with  beast,  or  fish  with  fowl, 
"So  well  converse,  nor  with  the  ox  the  ape."  l 


LETTER  XXV. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  Oct.  2,  1775. 

DEAR  SIR, 

WE  have  two  gangs  or  hordes  of  gypsies  which  infest  the  south 
and  west  of  England,  and  come  round  in  their  circuit  two  or  three 
times  in  the  year.  One  of  these  tribes  calls  itself  by  the  noble 
name  of  Stanley,  of  which  I  have  nothing  particular  to  say ;  but 
the  other  is  distinguished  by  an  appellative  somewhat  remarkable 
— As  far  as  their  harsh  gibberish  can  be  understood,  they  seem  to 
say  that  the  name  of  their  clan  is  Curleople  :  now  the  termination 
of  this  word  is  apparently  Grecian  :  and  as  Mezeray  and  the  gravest 
historians  all  agree  that  these  vagrants  did  certainly  migrate  from 
Egypt  and  the  East,  two  or  three  centuries  ago,  and  so  spread  by 
degrees  over  Europe,  may  not  this  family-name,  a  little  corrupted, 
be  the  very  name  they  brought  with  them  from  the  Levant  ?  It 
would  be  matter  of  some  curiosity,  could  one  meet  with  an  in- 
telligent person  among  them,  to  inquire  whether,  in  their  jargon, 
they  still  retain  any  Greek  words :  the  Greek  radicals  will  appear 
in  hand,  foot,  head,  water,  earth,  &c.  It  is  possible  that  amidst 
their  cant  and  corrupted  dialect  many  mutilated  remains  of  their 
native  language  might  still  be  discovered. 

With  regard  to  those  peculiar  people,  the  gypsies,  one  thing  is 
very  remarkable,  and  especially  as  they  came  from  warmer 
climates ;  and  that  is,  that  while  other  beggars  lodge  in  barns, 
stables,  and  cow-houses,  these  sturdy  savages  seem  to  pride  them- 
selves in  braving  the  severities  of  winter,  and  in  living  sub  dio  the 

1  [Paradise  Lost,  viii.,  395.] 


OF  SELBORNE  157 

whole  year  round.  Last  September  was  as  wet  a  month  as  ever 
was  known ;  and  yet  during  those  deluges  did  a  young  gypsy-girl 
lie-in  in  the  midst  of  one  of  our  hop-gardens,  on  the  cold  ground, 
with  nothing  over  her  but  a  piece  of  blanket  extended  on  a  few 
hazel-rods  bent  hoop-fashion,  and  stuck  into  the  earth  at  each 
end,  in  circumstances  too  trying  for  a  cow  in  the  same  condition  : 
yet  within  this  garden  there  was  a  large  hop-kiln,  into  the 
chambers  of  which  she  might  have  retired,  had  she  thought 
shelter  an  object  worthy  her  attention. 

Europe  itself,  it  seems,  cannot  set  bounds  to  the  rovings  of 
these  vagabonds ;  for  Mr.  Bell,  in  his  return  from  Peking,  met 
a  gang  of  these  people  on  the  confines  of  Tartary,  who  were 
endeavouring  to  penetrate  those  deserts  and  try  their  fortune 
in  China.1 

Gypsies  are  called  in  French  Bohemiens  ;  in  Italian  and  modern 
Greek,  Zingani. 

I  am,  &c. 


LETTER  XXVI. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  Nov.  i,  1775. 


DEAR  SIR, 


"  Hie  -  -  -  -  taedae  pingues,  hie  plurimus  ignis 
"Semper,  et  assidua  postes fuligine  nigri."  2 

I  SHALL  make  no  apology  for  troubling  you  with  the  detail  of  a 
very  simple  piece  of  domestic  oecoiiomy,  being  satisfied  that  you 
think  nothing  beneath  your  attention  that  tends  to  utility  :  the 
matter  alluded  to  is  the  use  of  rushes  instead  of  candles,  which  I 
am  well  aware  prevails  in  many  districts  besides  this ;  but  as  I 
know  there  are  countries  also  where  it  does  not  obtain,  and  as 
I  have  considered  the  subject  with  some  degree  of  exactness,  I 
shall  proceed  in  my  humble  story,  and  leave  you  to  judge  of 
the  expediency. 

The  proper  species  of  rush  for  this  purpose  seems  to  be  the 
juncus  couglomeratus,  or  common  soft  rush,  which  is  to  be  found 
in  most  moist  pastures,  by  the  sides  of  streams,  and  under  hedges. 
These  rushes  are  in  best  condition  in  the  height  of  summer  ;  but 

1  See  Bell's  Travels  in  China.  2  [Virg. ,  Eel ,  vii. ,  49,  50.] 


158  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

may  be  gathered,  so  as  to  serve  the  purpose  well,  quite  on  to 
autumn.  It  would  be  needless  to  add  that  the  largest  and 
longest  are  best.  Decayed  labourers,  women,  and  children, 
make  it  their  business  to  procure  and  prepare  them.  As  soon 
as  they  are  cut  they  must  be  flung  into  water,  and  kept  there ; 
for  otherwise  they  will  dry  and  shrink,  and  the  peel  will  not  run. 
At  first  a  person  would  find  it  no  easy  matter  to  divest  a  rush  of 
it's  peel  or  rind,  so  as  to  leave  one  regular,  narrow,  even  rib  from 
top  to  bottom  that  may  support  the  pith :  but  this,  like  other 
feats,  soon  becomes  familiar  even  to  children ;  and  we  have  seen 
an  old  woman,  stone-blind,  performing  this  business  with  great 
dispatch,  and  seldom  failing  to  strip  them  with  the  nicest 
regularity.  When  these  junci  are  thus  far  prepared,  they  must 
lie  out  on  the  grass  to  be  bleached,  and  take  the  dew  for  some 
nights,  and  afterwards  be  dried  in  the  sun. 

Some  address  is  required  in  dipping  these  rushes  in  the  scalding 
fat  or  grease  ;  but  this  knack  also  is  to  be  attained  by  practice. 
The  careful  wife  of  an  industrious  Hampshire  labourer  obtains  all 
her  fat  for  nothing  ;  for  she  saves  the  scummings  of  her  bacon-pot 
for  this  use  ;  and,  if  the  grease  abounds  with  salt,  she  causes  the 
salt  to  precipitate  to  the  bottom,  by  setting  the  scummings  in  a 
warm  oven.  Where  hogs  are  not  much  in  use,  and  especially  by 
the  sea-side,  the  coarser  animal-oils  will  come  very  cheap.  A 
pound  of  common  grease  may  be  procured  for  four  pence  ;  and 
about  six  pounds  of  grease  will  dip  a  pound  of  rushes  ;  and  one 
pound  of  rushes  may  be  bought  for  one  shilling  :  so  that  a  pound 
of  rushes,  medicated  and  ready  for  use,  will  cost  three  shillings. 
If  men  that  keep  bees  will  mix  a  little  wax  with  the  grease,  it 
will  give  it  a  consistency,  and  render  it  more  cleanly,  and  make 
the  rushes  burn  longer :  mutton-suet  would  have  the  same  effect. 

A  good  rush,  which  measured  in  length  two  feet  four  inches 
and  an  half,  being  minuted,  burnt  only  three  minutes  short  of  an 
hour :  and  a  rush  still  of  greater  length  has  been  known  to  burn 
one  hour  and  a  quarter. 

These  rushes  give  a  good  clear  light.  Watch-lights  (coated 
with  tallow),  it  is  true,  shed  a  dismal  one,  "darkness  visible"  ; 
but  then  the  wicks  of  those  have  two  ribs  of  the  rind,  or  peel,  to 
support  the  pith,  while  the  wick  of  the  dipped  rush  has  but  one. 
The  two  ribs  are  intended  to  impede  the  progress  of  the  flame 
and  make  the  candle  last. 

In  a  pound  of  dry  rushes,  avoirdupois,  which  I  caused  to  be 
weighed  and  numbered,  we  found  upwards  of  one  thousand  six 


OF  SELBOENE  159 

hundred  individuals.  Now  suppose  each  of  these  burns,  one 
with  another,  only  half  an  hour,  then  a  poor  man  will  purchase 
eight  hundred  hours  of  light,  a  time  exceeding  thirty-three  entire 
days,  for  three  shillings.  According  to  this  account  each  rush, 
before  dipping,  costs  ^  of  a  farthing,  and  ^  afterwards.  Thus 
a  poor  family  will  enjoy  5j  hours  of  comfortable  light  for  a 
farthing.  An  experienced  old  housekeeper  assures  me  that  one 
pound  and  an  half  of  rushes  completely  supplies  his  family  the  year 
round,  since  working  people  burn  no  candle  in  the  long  days, 
because  they  rise  and  go  to  bed  by  daylight. 

Little  farmers  use  rushes  much  in  the  short  days,  both  morning 
and  evening,  in  the  dairy  and  kitchen ;  but  the  very  poor,  who 
are  always  the  worst  oeconomists,  and  therefore  must  continue 
very  poor,  buy  an  halfpenny  candle  every  evening,  which,  in 
their  blowing  open  rooms,  does  not  burn  much  more  than  two 
hours.  Thus  have  they  only  two  hours  light  for  their  money 
instead  of  eleven.1 

While  on  the  subject  of  rural  oeconomy,  it  may  not  be  improper 
to  mention  a  pretty  implement  of  housewifery  that  we  have  seen 
no  where  else ;  that  is,  little  neat  besoms  which  our  foresters 
make  from  the  stalks  of  the  polyiricum  commune  or  great  golden 
maiden-hair,  which  they  call  silk-wood,  and  find  plenty  in  the  bogs. 
When  this  moss  is  well  combed  and  dressed,  and  divested  of  it's 
outer  skin,  it  becomes  of  a  beautiful  bright-chestnut  colour  ;  and, 
being  soft  and  pliant,  is  very  proper  for  the  dusting  of  beds, 
curtains,  carpets,  hangings,  &c.  If  these  besoms  were  known 
to  the  brushmakers  in  town,  it  is  probable  they  might  come 
much  in  use  for  the  purpose  above-mentioned.2 

I  am,  &c. 

1  [White  does  not  mention  the  "  rush-burners"  used  to  keep  the  draughts  from 
wasting  the  rush-lights.     Dickens  describes  the  contrivance  thus  :  "As  I  had  asked 
for  a  night -light,  the  chamberlain  had  brought  me  in,  before  he  left  me,  the  good 
old  constitutional  rush-light  of  those  virtuous  days — an  object  like  the  ghost  of  a 
walking-cane,  which  instantly  broke  its  back  if  it  were  touched,  which  nothing  could 
ever  be  lighted  at,  and  which  was  placed  in  solitary  confinement  at  the  bottom  of  a 
high  tin  tower,  perforated  with  round  holes  that  made  a  staringly  wide-awake  pattern 
on  the  walls"  (Great  Expectations,  chap.  xlv.).     The  pattern  was  a  frequent  cause 
of  night-fears  to  children  a  hundred  years  ago.     A  rush-burner  may  be  seen  in  the 
museum  at  Kew  Gardens.      Rush-holders  of  various  constructions,  spring  clips, 
sockets,  etc.,  are  still  preserved.     Some  are  figured  in  the  Illustrated  Archceologist, 
September,  1894,  p.  99,  and  in  Trans.  Cumberland  and  Westmoreland  Antiq.  Soc.t 
vol.  xii.] 

2  A  besom  of  this  sort  is  to  be  seen  in  Sir  Ashton  Lever's  Museum. 


160  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 


LETTER  XXVII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  Dec.  12,  1775. 
DEAR  SIR, 

WE  had  in  this  village  more  than  twenty  years  ago  an  idiot-boy, 
whom  I  well  remember,  who,  from  a  child,  shewed  a  strong 
propensity  to  bees ;  they  were  his  food,  his  amusement,  his  sole 
object.  And  as  people  of  this  cast  have  seldom  more  than  one 
point  in  view,  so  this  lad  exerted  all  his  few  faculties  on  this  one 
pursuit.  In  the  winter  he  dosed  away  his  time,  within  his  father's 
house,  by  the  fire  side,  in  a  kind  of  torpid  state,  seldom  departing 
from  the  chimney-corner ;  but  in  the  summer  he  was  all  alert, 
and  in  quest  of  his  game  in  the  fields,  and  on  sunny  banks. 
Honey-bees,  humble-bees,  and  wasps,  were  his  prey  wherever 
he  found  them  :  he  had  no  apprehensions  from  their  stings,  but 
would  seize  them  nudiv  manibus,  and  at  once  disarm  them  of  their 
weapons,  and  suck  their  bodies  for  the  sake  of  their  honey-bags. 
Sometimes  he  would  fill  his  bosom  between  his  shirt  and  his  skin 
with  a  number  of  these  captives ;  and  sometimes  would  confine 
them  in  bottles.  He  was  a  very  merops  apiaster,  or  bee-bird  ;  and 
very  injurious  to  men  that  kept  bees ;  for  he  would  slide  into 
their  bee-gardens,  and,  sitting  down  before  the  stools,  would 
rap  with  his  finger  on  the  hives,  and  so  take  the  bees  as  they 
came  out.  He  has  been  known  to  overturn  hives  for  the  sake  of 
honey,  of  which  he  was  passionately  fond.  Where  metheglin 
was  making  he  would  linger  round  the  tubs  and  vessels,  begging 
a  draught  of  what  he  called  bee-wine.  As  he  ran  about  he  used 
to  make  a  humming  noise  with  his  lips,  resembling  the  buzzing 
of  bees.  This  lad  was  lean  and  sallow,  and  of  a  cadaverous 
complexion;  and,  except  in  his  favourite  pursuit,  in  which  he 
was  wonderfully  adroit,  discovered  no  manner  of  understanding. 
Had  his  capacity  been  better,  and  directed  to  the  same  object,  he 
had  perhaps  abated  much  of  our  wonder  at  the  feats  of  a  more 
modern  exhibiter  of  bees  ;  and  we  may  justly  say  of  him  now, 

——    —    —    —     —    —    —     —    Thou, 

"  Had  thy  presiding  star  propitious  shone, 
"  Should' st  Wildman^  be    —     —    —    — ." 

1  [Thomas  Wildman,  a  noted  beemaster,  and  author  of  a   Treatise  on  the 
Management  of  Bees,  London,  1768,  410.] 


OF  SELBOKNE  161 

When  a  tall  youth  he  was  removed  from  hence  to  a  distant 
village,  where  he  died,  as  I  understand,  before  he  arrived  at 
manhood. 

I  am,  &c. 


LETTER  XXVIII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  Jan.  8,  1776. 
DEAR  SIR, 

IT  is  the  hardest  thing  in  the  world  to  shake  off  superstitious 
prejudices  :  they  are  sucked  in  as  it  were  with  our  mother's 
milk ;  and,  growing  up  with  us  at  a  time  when  they  take  the 
fastest  hold  and  make  the  most  lasting  impressions,  become  so 
interwoven  into  our  very  constitutions,  that  the  strongest  good 
sense  is  required  to  disengage  ourselves  from  them.  No  wonder 
therefore  that  the  lower  people  retain  them  their  whole  lives 
through,  since  their  minds  are  not  invigorated  by  a  liberal 
education,  and  therefore  not  enabled  to  make  any  efforts  adequate 
to  the  occasion. 

Such  a  preamble  seems  to  be  necessary  before  we  enter  on 
the  superstitions  of  this  district,  lest  we  should  be  suspected  of 
exaggeration  in  a  recital  of  practices  too  gross  for  this  enlightened 
age. 

But  the  people  of  Tring,  in  Hertfordshire,  would  do  well  to 
remember,  that  no  longer  ago  than  the  year  1751,  and  within 
twenty  miles  of  the  capital,  they  seized  on  two  superannuated 
wretches,  crazed  with  age,  and  overwhelmed  with  infirmities, 
on  a  suspicion  of  witchcraft ;  and,  by  trying  experiments,  drowned 
them  in  a  horse-pond. 

In  a  farm-yard  near  the  middle  of  this  village  stands,  at  this 
day,  a  row  of  pollard-ashes,  which,  by  the  seams  and  long 
cicatrices  down  their  sides,  manifestly  show  that,  in  former 
times,  they  have  been  cleft  asunder.  These  trees,  when  young 
and  flexible,  were  severed  and  held  open  by  wedges,  while 
ruptured  children,  stripped  naked,  were  pushed  through  the 
apertures,  under  a  persuasion  that,  by  such  a  process,  the  poor 
babes  would  be  cured  of  their  infirmity.  As  soon  as  the  opera- 
tion was  over,  the  tree,  in  the  suffering  part,  was  plastered  with 
loam,  and  carefully  swathed  up.  If  the  parts  coalesced  and 
11 


162  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

soldered  together,  as  usually  fell  out,  where  the  feat  was  per- 
formed with  any  adroitness  at  all,  the  party  was  cured  ;  but, 
where  the  cleft  continued  to  gape,  the  operation,  it  was  supposed, 
would  prove  ineffectual.  Having  occasion  to  enlarge  my  garden 
not  long  since,  I  cut  down  two  or  three  such  trees,  one  of  which 
did  not  grow  together. 

We  have  several  persons  now  living  in  the  village,  who,  in 
their  childhood,  were  supposed  to  be  healed  by  this  superstitious 
ceremony,  derived  down  perhaps  from  our  Saxon  ancestors,  who 
practised  it  before  their  conversion  to  Christianity. 

At  the  south  corner  of  the  Plestor,  or  area,  near  the  church, 
there  stood,  about  twenty  years  ago,  a  very  old  grotesque  hollow 
pollard-ash,  which  for  ages  had  been  looked  on  with  no  small 
veneration  as  a  shrew-ash.  Now  a  shrew-ash  is  an  ash  whose 
twigs  or  branches,  when  gently  applied  to  the  limbs  of  cattle, 
will  immediately  relieve  the  pains  which  a  beast  suffers  from 
the  running  of  a  shrew-mouse  over  the  part  affected  :  for  it  is 
supposed  that  a  shrew-mouse  is  of  so  baneful  and  deleterious  a 
nature,  that  wherever  it  creeps  over  a  beast,  be  it  horse,  cow, 
or  sheep,  the  suffering  animal  is  afflicted  with  cruel  anguish, 
and  threatened  with  the  loss  of  the  use  of  the  limb.  Against 
this  accident,  to  which  they  were  continually  liable,  our  pro- 
vident fore-fathers  always  kept  a  shrew-ash  at  hand,  which, 
when  once  medicated,  would  maintain  it's  virtue  for  ever.  A 
shrew -ash  was  made  thus1  : — Into  the  body  of  the  tree  a  deep 
hole  was  bored  with  an  auger,  and  a  poor  devoted  shrew-mouse 
was  thrust  in  alive,  and  plugged  in,  no  doubt,  with  several 
quaint  incantations  long  since  forgotten.  As  the  ceremonies 
necessary  for  such  a  consecration  are  no  longer  understood,  all 
succession  is  at  an  end,  and  no  such  tree  is  known  to  subsist  in 
the  manor,  or  hundred. 

As  to  that  on  the  Plestor, 

"  The  late  vicar  stubb'd  and  burnt  it," 

when  he  was  way-warden,  regardless  of  the  remonstrances  of 
the  by-standers,  who  interceded  in  vain  for  it's  preservation, 
urging  it's  power  and  efficacy,  and  alledging  that  it  had  been 

"  Religione  patrum  multos  servata  per  annos".2 

I  am,  &c. 

1  For  a  similar  practice,  see  Plot's  Staffordshire. 
2[Virg.,  ^«.,i 


OF  SELBOENE  163 

LETTER  XXIX. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  Feb.  7,  1776. 
DEAR  SIR, 

IN  heavy  fogs,  on  elevated  situations  especially,  trees  are  perfect 
alembics  :  and  no  one  that  has  not  attended  to  such  matters  can 
imagine  how  much  water  one  tree  will  distil  in  a  night's  time, 
by  condensing  the  vapour,  which  trickles  down  the  twigs  and 
boughs,  so  as  to  make  the  ground  below  quite  in  a  float.  In 
Newton-lane,  in  October  1775,  on  a  misty  day,  a  particular  oak 
in  leaf  dropped  so  fast  that  the  cart-way  stood  in  puddles  and 
the  ruts  ran  with  water,  though  the  ground  in  general  was 
dusty. 

In  some  of  our  smaller  islands  in  the  West-Indies,  if  I  mistake 
not,  there  are  no  springs  or  rivers  ;  but  the  people  are  supplied 
with  that  necessary  element,  water,  merely  by  the  dripping  of 
some  large  tall  trees,  which,  standing  in  the  bosom  of  a  mountain, 
keep  their  heads  constantly  enveloped  with  fogs  and  clouds, 
from  which  they  dispense  their  kindly  never-ceasing  moisture ; 
and  so  render  those  districts  habitable  by  condensation  alone. 

Trees  in  leaf  have  such  a  vast  proportion  more  of  surface 
than  those  that  are  naked,  that,  in  theory,  their  condensations 
should  greatly  exceed  those  that  are  stripped  of  their  leaves  ; 
but,  as  the  former  imbibe  also  a  great  quantity  of  moisture,  it  is 
difficult  to  say  which  drip  most  :  but  this  I  know,  that  deciduous 
trees  that  are  entwined  with  much  ivy  seem  to  distil  the  greatest 
quantity.  Ivy-leaves  are  smooth,  and  thick,  and  cold,  and  there- 
fore condense  very  fast ;  and  besides  ever-greens  imbibe  very 
little.  These  facts  may  furnish  the  intelligent  with  hints 
concerning  what  sorts  of  trees  they  should  plant  round  small 
ponds  that  they  would  wish  to  be  perennial ;  and  shew  them 
how  advantageous  some  trees  are  in  preference  to  others. 

Trees  perspire  profusely,  condense  largely,  and  check  evapora- 
tion so  much,  that  woods  are  always  moist :  no  wonder  therefore 
that  they  contribute  much  to  pools  and  streams. 

That  trees  are  great  promoters  of  lakes  and  rivers  appears 
from  a  well  known  fact  in  North- America  ;  for,  since  the  woods 
and  forests  have  been  grubbed  and  cleared,  all  bodies  of  water 
are  much  diminished ;  so  that  some  streams,  that  were  very 


164  THE  NATUKAL  HISTORY 

considerable  a  century  ago,  will  not  now  drive  a  common 
mill.1  Besides,  most  woodlands,  forests,  and  chases,  with  us 
abound  with  pools  and  morasses ;  no  doubt  for  the  reason 
given  above. 

To  a  thinking  mind  few  phenomena  are  more  strange  than 
the  state  of  little  ponds  on  the  summits  of  chalk-hills,  many  of 
which  are  never  dry  in  the  most  trying  droughts  of  summer. 
On  chalk-hills  I  say,  because  in  many  rocky  and  gravelly  soils 
springs  usually  break  out  pretty  high  on  the  sides  of  elevated 
grounds  and  mountains ;  but  no  person  acquainted  with  chalky 
districts  will  allow  that  they  ever  saw  springs  in  such  a  soil  but 
in  vallies  and  bottoms,  since  the  waters  of  so  pervious  a  stratum 
as  chalk  all  lie  on  one  dead  level,  as  well-diggers  have  assured 
me  again  and  again. 

Now  we  have  many  such  little  round  ponds  in  this  district ; 
and  one  in  particular  on  our  sheep-down,  three  hundred  feet 
above  my  house ;  which,  though  never  above  three  feet  deep  in 
the  middle,  and  not  more  than  thirty  feet  in  diameter,  and 
containing  perhaps  not  more  than  two  or  three  hundred  hogs- 
heads of  water,  yet  never  is  known  to  fail,  though  it  affords 
drink  for  three  hundred  or  four  hundred  sheep,  and  for  at  least 
twenty  head  of  large  cattle  beside.  This  pond,  it  is  true,  is 
over-hung  with  two  moderate  beeches,2  that,  doubtless,  at  times 
afford  it  much  supply :  but  then  we  have  others  as  small,  that, 
without  the  aid  of  trees,  and  in  spite  of  evaporation  from  sun 
and  wind,  and  perpetual  consumption  by  cattle,  yet  constantly 
maintain  a  moderate  share  of  water,  without  overflowing  in  the 
wettest  seasons,  as  they  would  do  if  supplied  by  springs.  By 
my  journal  of  Mat/  1775,  it  appears  that  "the  small  and  even 
"considerable  ponds  in  the  vales  are  now  dried  up,  while  the 
"small  ponds  on  the  very  tops  of  hills  are  but  little  affected". 
Can  this  difference  be  accounted  for  from  evaporation  alone, 
which  certainly  is  more  prevalent  in  bottoms  ?  or  rather  have  not 
those  elevated  pools  some  unnoticed  recruits,  which  in  the  night 
time  counter- balance  the  waste  of  the  day  ;  without  which  the 
cattle  alone  must  soon  exhaust  them  ?  And  here  it  will  be 
necessary  to  enter  more  minutely  into  the  cause.  Dr.  Hales,  in 

1  Vide  Kalnfs  Travels  to  North- America. 

2  [One  of  the  identical  beeches  here  referred  to  was,  for  at  least  fifty  or  sixty  years, 
leaning  at  a  considerable  angle  over  the  pond,  and  has  fallen  prone  into  the  water 
only  very  recently.     It  was  not  a  large  tree ;  it  had  become  somewhat  decayed,  but 
retained  its  leafy  head  until  it  fell  uprooted. — Bell.} 


OF  SELBORNE  165 

his  Vegetable  Statics,  advances,  from  experiment,  that  "the 
"  moister  the  earth  is  the  more  dew  falls  on  it  in  a  night :  and 
"  more  than  a  double  quantity  of  dew  falls  on  a  surface  of  water 
"  than  there  does  on  an  equal  surface  of  moist  earth  ".  Hence 
we  see  that  water,  by  it's  coolness,  is  enabled  to  assimilate  to 
itself  a  large  quantity  of  moisture  nightly  by  condensation ;  and 
that  the  air,  when  loaded  with  fogs  and  vapours,  and  even  with 
copious  dews,  can  alone  advance  a  considerable  and  never- failing 
resource.  Persons  that  are  much  abroad,  and  travel  early  and 
late,  such  as  shepherds,  fishermen,  &c.  can  tell  what  prodigious 
fogs  prevail  in  the  night  on  elevated  downs,  even  in  the  hottest 
parts  of  summer ;  and  how  much  the  surfaces  of  things  are 
drenched  by  those  swimming  vapours,  though,  to  the  senses,  all 
the  while,  little  moisture  seems  to  fall.1 

I  am,  &c. 


1  [White's  account  of  the  dew-ponds  of  Hampshire  and  Sussex  can  be  largely 
confirmed  by  recent  observations.  A  good  modern  description  of  such  ponds  is 
to  be  found  in  a  prize  essay  on  "  Water  Supply,"  by  the  Rev.  J.  Clutterbuck  (fourn. 
Roy.  Agric.  Soc.,  2nd  ser.,  vol.  i.,  1865,  pp.  271-87).  He  says  that  the  tops  of  chalk- 
hills,  where  no  surface-water  or  springs  can  furnish  a  supply,  are  often  chosen  as 
the  sites  of  dew-ponds.  They  "are  constructed  by  persons  of  experience  and 
skill.  At  the  spot  selected  an  excavation  is  made  in  the  surface  of  the  chalk,  either 
round  or  rectangular,  from  30  to  40  feet  or  more  in  diameter,  from  4  to  6  feet  deep. 
The  bottom,  of  a  basin  shape,  is  covered  in  portions  with  clay  carefully  tempered, 
mixed  with  a  considerable  quantity  of  lime  to  prevent  the  working  of  the  earth- 
worms. As  the  portions  are  finished  they  are  protected  from  the  action  of  the  sun 
and  atmosphere  by  a  covering  of  straw  ;  when  the  whole  bottom  of  the  pond  is  so 
covered  with  an  efficient  and  impermeable  coating  or  puddle,  a  layer  of  broken 
chalk  is  placed  upon  it  to  prevent  its  injury  by  cattle  or  other  means.  Their  cost 
varies  from  £30  to  ^50.  When  all  is  finished,  water  is  introduced  by  artificial 
means.  If  there  is  a  fall  of  snow,  this  is  collected  and  piled  up  in  the  pond,  as  the 
readiest  and  least  expensive  method  of  accomplishing  the  object.  .  .  .  Ponds  so 
constructed  and  filled  have  been  known  for  periods  of  twenty  or  thirty  years  never 
to  become  dry  ;  the  summer  of  1864  was  a  notable  exception  "  (1887  was  another). 

Mr.  Clutterbuck  believes  that  dew-ponds  are  "not  easily  accounted  for  by  re- 
cognised physical  causes".  Nevertheless,  an  explanation  may  be  attempted.  It 
is  plain  that  the  water  in  such  ponds  is  not  drawn  from  springs,  nor  from  surface- 
drainage,  nor  wholly  from  rain.  Part  of  the  supply,  and  probably  a  large  part, 
comes  from  the  invisible  moisture  of  the  atmosphere.  Moisture-laden  winds,  rising 
from  lower  levels,  become  chilled  by  expansion,  and  throw  down  their  water,  either 
in  the  form  of  clouds,  such  as  often  gather  round  a  mountain-top,  or  dew.  Such 
condensation  takes  place  on  a  very  large  scale  on  the  Alps,  where  the  great  excess 
of  condensation  over  evaporation  is  very  clearly  and  simply  shown  by  the  large  and 
rapid  rivers  which  flow  out  of  Switzerland. 

Hales'  view  (quoted  by  White)  that  more  than  twice  as  much  dew  is  deposited 
upon  water  as  upon  an  equal  surface  of  moist  earth  cannot  be  accepted.  He  does 
not  take  into  account  circumstances  which  may  greatly  affect  the  rate  of  cooling 
and  consequently  the  amount  of  condensation.  Thus  it  may  often  be  observed 
that  when  a  copious  dew  has  been  deposited  upon  the  seats  of  an  open  boat,  none 
is  to  be  seen  on  the  bottom.  Contact  with  a  large  body  of  insufficiently  cooled 


166  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 


LETTER  XXX. 

TO  THE  SAME 

Selborne,  April  3,  1776. 
DEAR  SIR, 

MONSIEUR  HERISSANT,  a  French  anatomist,  seems  persuaded  that 
he  has  discovered  the  reason  why  cuckoos  do  not  hatch  their 
own  eggs ;  the  impediment,  he  supposes,  arises  from  the  internal 

water  (as  of  a  deep  lake)  has  kept  the  bottom  of  the  boat  at  a  temperature  above 
the  dew-point. 

Water  is  so  bad  a  conductor  of  heat  that  some  difficulty  may  be  found  in  under- 
standing how  a  pond  can  cool  sufficiently  during  a  summer  night  to  act  as  an 
efficient  condenser.  But  though  water  conducts  heat  very  badly,  every  surface- 
layer,  as  it  cools  by  radiation,  becomes  denser,  and  sinks.  Continual  replacement 
of  the  surface-layer  by  convection-currents  may  thus  cool  down  the  water  as  effec- 
tually as  if  the  heat  were  freely  conducted  away.  A  shallow  pond  on  a  hill-top 
may  in  the  course  of  a  few  hours  become  colder  than  the  surrounding  rocks  and 
earth,  and  act  as  an  efficient  condenser. 

Dew-ponds  abound  in  Sussex,  and  are  not  uncommon  elsewhere  on  the  chalk- 
hills  of  the  south-eastern  counties.  Buttermere  pond,  near  Inkpen  Beacon  (Berk- 
shire), at  a  height  of  considerably  over  900  feet,  is  never  dry,  though  it  waters  a 
large  flock  of  sheep. — (T.  W.  Shore.)  But  in  Hertfordshire,  Lincolnshire  and 
Yorkshire  few  or  none  are  to  be  found.  The  "meres"  of  upland  farms  in 
Derbyshire  have  much  in  common  with  dew-ponds,  but  they  are  not  characteristic 
examples.  Advantage  is  taken,  whenever  possible,  of  the  wash  from  a  road,  and 
of  any  surface-drainage,  and  the  "meres"  frequently  dry  up  altogether.  The 
presence  or  absence  of  true  dew-ponds  in  a  particular  district  may  depend  upon  the 
distance  from  the  sea  in  a  north-east  to  a  south-west  line.  The  south-west  winds, 
which  bring  the  chief  part  of  our  atmospheric  moisture,  can  reach  the  South  Downs 
almost  direct  from  the  sea,  while  they  can  only  reach  the  chalk-hills  of  the  midlands 
and  the  north  of  England  after  traversing  a  great  extent  of  country,  and  crossing 
many  ranges  of  hills. 

Mr.  Clement  Reid,  F.R.S.,  of  the  Geological  Survey,  favours  us  with  the  follow- 
ing additional  information : — 

"The  conditions  that  are  required  for  a  permanent  dew-pond  do  not  seem 
generally  to  be  understood  ;  failure  or  success  appearing  to  be  the  result  of  chance 
rather  than  of  any  clear  comprehension  of  the  principle  on  which  the  dew-pond 
acts.  On  comparing,  at  the  end  of  a  long  drought,  the  dried-up  ponds  with  those 
that  still  contain  water,  we  find  that,  other  things  being  equal,  the  best  dew-pond 
has  the  following  characteristics  : — 

"It  is  sheltered  on  the  south-west  side  by  an  overhanging  tree,  often  only  a 
stunted,  ivy-covered  thorn  or  oak,  or  by  a  bush  of  holly.  Or  else  the  hollow  is 
sufficiently  deep  for  the  south  bank  to  cut  off  much  of  the  sun.  The  depth  or 
shallowness  of  the  water  does  not  appear  to  make  so  great  a  difference  as  would 
be  expected. 

"  When  one  of  these  ponds  is  examined  in  the  middle  of  a  hot  summer  day  it 
would  appear  that  the  few  inches  of  water  in  it  could  only  last  a  week.  But  in 
early  morning  or  towards  evening,  or  whenever  a  sea-mist  drifts  in,  there  is  a 
continuous  drip  from  the  smooth  leaves  of  the  overhanging  tree.  There  appears 
also  to  be  a  considerable  amount  of  condensation  on  the  surface  of  the  water  itself, 
though  roads  adjoining  may  be  quite  dry  and  dusty.  In  fact,  whenever  dew  is  on 


OF  SELBORNE  167 

structure  of  their  parts,  which  incapacitates  them  for  incubation. 
According  to  this  gentleman,  the  crop,  or  craw  of  a  cuckoo  does 
not  lie  before  the  sternum  at  the  bottom  of  the  neck,  as  in  the 
gallinae,  culumbce,  &c.,  but  immediately  behind  it,  on  and  over  the 
bowels,  so  as  to  make  a  large  protuberance  in  the  belly.1 

Induced  by  this  assertion,  we  procured  a  cuckoo ;  and,  cutting 
open  the  breast-bone,  and  exposing  the  intestines  to  sight,  found 
the  crop  lying  as  mentioned  above.  This  stomach  was  large  and 
round,  and  stuffed  hard  like  a  pin-cushion  with  food,  which,  upon 
nice  examination,  we  found  to  consist  of  various  insects ;  such  as 
small  scarabs,  spiders,  and  dragon-flies  ;  the  last  of  which  we  have 
seen  cuckoos  catching  on  the  wing  as  they  were  just  emerging 
out  of  the  aurelia  state.  Among  this  farrago  also  were  to  be 
seen  maggots,  and  many  seeds,  which  belonged  either  to  goose- 
berries, currants,  cranberries,  or  some  such  fruit ;  so  that  these 
birds  apparently  subsist  on  insects  and  fruits  :  nor  was  there  the 
least  appearance  of  bones,  feathers,  or  fur,  to  support  the  idle  notion 
of  their  being  birds  of  prey. 

The  sternum  in  this  bird  seemed  to  us  to  be  remarkably  short, 
between  which  and  the  anus  lay  the  crop,  or  craw,  and  immediately 
behind  that  the  bowels  against  the  back-bone. 

the  grass  the  dew-pond  is  receiving  moisture,  and  this  moisture,  owing  to  the  shade 
of  the  overhanging  tree,  is  partly  preserved  throughout  the  day,  so  that  sheep  or 
cattle  may  drink  daily  from  a  small  shallow  pond  which  receives  no  rain,  and  yet 
the  pond  be  not  exhausted  unless  the  nights  are  exceptionally  dry." 

In  "The  Natural  History  of  Isolated  Ponds,"  a  paper  contributed  to  the 
Transactions  of  the  Norfolk  and  Norwich  Naturalists'  Society,  vol.  v.,  Mr.  Reid 
points  out  that  isolated  dew-ponds  contain  many  forms  of  animal  and  vegetable 
life.  Human  agency  is  not  likely  to  be  concerned,  for  it  is  rare  that  a  vehicle,  a 
spade,  or  even  the  boots  of  a  shepherd  are  brought  to  a  dew-pond  from  the  low 
levels.  "  The  sheep  remain  on  the  downs,  and  when  taken  to  the  lower  lands  to 
fatten  they  do  not  come  back  again ;  when  transferred  to  lower  ground  during 
severe  weather  they  are  kept  as  far  as  possible  on  dry  spots."  Among  the 
plants  are  enumerated  species  of  Ranunculus,  Potamogeton,  Elodea,  Zannichellia, 
Juncus  and  Chara ;  the  animals  include  species  of  Limncsa  and  Planorbi s ;  the 
stickleback  was  found  once.  Mr.  Reid  believes  that  these  species  are  most  often 
transported  on  the  feet  of  birds.  Dr.  G.  S.  Brady,  F.R.S. ,  finds  in  dew-ponds 
"a  somewhat  restricted  entomostracan  fauna,  similar  in  kind  to  that  of  the 
surrounding  country".  Owing  to  the  artificial,  and  in  most  cases  the  recent  origin 
of  these  isolated  ponds,  examination  of  their  fauna  and  flora  gives  valuable  infor- 
mation as  to  the  facility  with  which  certain  aquatic  species  can  be  dispersed. 

Mr.  T.  W.  Shore  has  observed  dew-ponds  near  ancient  British  camps,  and 
believes  that  this  method  of  obtaining  water  may  have  been  known  to  the  people 
(probably  of  the  Bronze  Age)  who  made  the  camps. 

A  discussion  on  dew-ponds  will  be  found  in  the  Report  of  the  British  Association 
for  1900.] 

1  Histoire  de  I'Acadtmie  Roy  ale,  1752. 


168  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

It  must  be  allowed,  as  this  anatomist  observes,  that  the  crop 
placed  just  upon  the  bowels,  must,  especially  when  full,  be  in  a 
very  uneasy  situation  during  the  business  of  incubation  ;  yet  the 
test  will  be  to  examine  whether  birds  that  are  actually  known 
to  sit  for  certain  are  not  formed  in  a  similar  manner.  This 
inquiry  I  proposed  to  myself  to  make  with  a  fern-owl,  or  goat- 
sucker, as  soon  as  opportunity  offered  :  because,  if  their  formation 
proves  the  same,  the  reason  for  incapacity  in  the  cuckoo  will  be 
allowed  to  have  been  taken  up  somewhat  hastily. 

Not  long  after  a  fern-owl  was  procured,  which,  from  it's  habit 
and  shape,  we  suspected  might  resemble  the  cuckoo  in  it's 
internal  construction.  Nor  were  our  suspicions  ill-grounded  ; 
for,  upon  the  dissection,  the  crop,  or  craw,  also  lay  behind  the 
sternum,  immediately  on  the  viscera,  between  them  and  the 
skin  of  the  belly.  It  was  bulky,  and  stuffed  hard  with  large 
phalcence,  moths  of  several  sorts,  and  their  eggs,  which  no  doubt 
had  been  forced  out  of  those  insects  by  the  action  of  swallowing. 

Now  as  it  appears  that  this  bird,  which  is  so  well  known  to 
practise  incubation,  is  formed  in  a  similar  manner  with  cuckoos, 
Monsieur  Herissant's  conjecture,  that  cuckoos  are  incapable  of 
incubation  from  the  disposition  of  their  intestines,  seems  to 
fall  to  the  ground :  and  we  are  still  at  a  loss  for  the  cause  of 
that  strange  and  singular  peculiarity  in  the  instance  of  the 
cuculus  canorus. 

We  found  the  case  to  be  the  same  with  the  ring-tail  hawk,  in 
respect  to  formation ;  and,  as  far  as  I  can  recollect,  with  the 
swift ;  and  probably  it  is  so  with  many  more  sorts  of  birds  that 
are  not  granivorous. 

I  am,  &c. 


LETTER  XXXI. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  April  29,  1776. 


DEAR  SIR, 


ON  August  the  4th,  1775,  we  surprised  a  large  viper,  which 
seemed  very  heavy  and  bloated,  as  it  lay  in  the  grass  basking 
in  the  sun.  When  we  came  to  cut  it  up,  we  found  that  the 
abdomen  was  crowded  with  young,  fifteen  in  number;  the 
shortest  of  which  measured  full  seven  inches,  and  were  about 


OF  SELBORNE  169 

the  size  of  full-grown  earth-worms.  This  little  fry  issued  into 
the  world  with  the  true  viper-spirit  about  them,  shewing  great 
alertness  as  soon  as  disengaged  from  the  belly  of  the  dam :  they 
twisted  and  wriggled  about,  and  set  themselves  up,  and  gaped 
very  wide  when  touched  with  a  stick,  shewing  manifest  tokens 
of  menace  and  defiance,  though  as  yet  they  had  no  manner  of 
fangs  that  we  could  find,  even  with  the  help  of  our  glasses. 

To  a  thinking  mind  nothing  is  more  wonderful  than  that  early 
instinct  which  impresses  young  animals  with  the  notion  of  the 
situation  of  their  natural  weapons,  and  of  using  them  properly 
in  their  own  defence,  even  before  those  weapons  subsist  or  are 
formed.  Thus  a  young  cock  will  spar  at  his  adversary  before 
his  spurs  are  grown ;  and  a  calf  or  a  lamb  will  push  with  their 
heads  before  their  horns  are  sprouted.  In  the  same  manner 
did  these  young  adders  attempt  to  bite  before  their  fangs  were 
in  being.  The  dam  however  was  furnished  with  very  formidable 
ones,  which  we  lifted  up  (for  they  fold  down  when  not  used)  and 
cut  them  off  with  the  point  of  our  scissars. 

There  was  little  room  to  suppose  that  this  brood  had  ever 
been  in  the  open  air  before ;  and  that  they  were  taken  in  for 
refuge,  at  the  mouth  of  the  dam,  when  she  perceived  that  danger 
was  approaching ;  because  then  probably  we  should  have  found 
them  somewhere  in  the  neck,  and  not  in  the  abdomen. 


LETTER  XXXII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

CASTRATION  has  a  strange  effect :  it  emasculates  both  man,  beast, 
and  bird,  and  brings  them  to  a  near  resemblance  of  the  other 
sex.  Thus  eunuchs  have  smooth  unmuscular  arms,  thighs  and 
legs ;  and  broad  hips,  and  beardless  chins,  and  squeaking  voices. 
Gelt-stags  and  bucks  have  hornless  heads,  like  hinds  and  does. 
Thus  wethers  have  small  horns,  like  ewes ;  and  oxen  large  bent 
horns,  and  hoarse  voices  when  they  low,  like  cows :  for  bulls 
have  short  straight  horns ;  and  though  they  mutter  and  grumble 
in  a  deep  tremendous  tone,  yet  they  low  in  a  shrill  high  key. 
Capons  have  small  combs  and  gills,  and  look  pallid  about  the 
head,  like  pullets  ;  tney  also  walk  without  any  parade,  and  hover 
chickens  like  hens.  Barrow-hogs  have  also  small  tusks  like  sows. 
Thus  far  it  is  plain  that  the  deprivation  of  masculine  vigour 


170  THE  NATUEAL  HISTORY 

puts  a  stop  to  the  growth  of  those  parts  or  appendages  that 
are  looked  upon  as  it's  insignia.  But  the  ingenious  Mr.  Ilisle, 
in  his  book  on  husbandry,  carries  it  much  farther ;  for  he  says 
that  the  loss  of  those  insignia  alone  has  sometimes  a  strange 
effect  on  the  ability  itself :  he  had  a  boar  so  fierce  and  venereous, 
that,  to  prevent  mischief,  orders  were  given  for  his  tusks  to  be 
broken  off.  No  sooner  had  the  beast  suffered  this  injury  than 
his  powers  forsook  him,  and  he  neglected  those  females  to  whom 
before  he  was  passionately  attached,  and  from  whom  no  fences 
could  restrain  him. 


LETTER  XXXIII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

THE  natural  term  of  an  hog's  life  is  little  known,  and  the  reason 
is  plain — because  it  is  neither  profitable  nor  convenient  to  keep 
that  turbulent  animal  to  the  full  extent  of  it's  time :  however, 
my  neighbour,  a  man  of  substance,  who  had  110  occasion  to  study 
every  little  advantage  to  a  nicety,  kept  an  half  bred  Bantam-sow, 
who  was  as  thick  as  she  was  long,  and  whose  belly  swept  on  the 
ground  till  she  was  advanced  to  her  seventeenth  year ;  at  which 
period  she  shewed  some  tokens  of  age  by  the  decay  of  her  teeth 
and  the  decline  of  her  fertility. 

For  about  ten  years  this  prolific  mother  produced  two  litters  in 
the  year  of  about  ten  at  a  time,  and  once  above  twenty  at  a 
litter ;  but,  as  there  were  near  double  the  number  of  pigs  to 
that  of  teats  many  died.  From  long  experience  in  the  world  this 
female  was  grown  very  sagacious  and  artful : — when  she  found 
occasion  to  converse  with  a  boar  she  used  to  open  all  the  inter- 
vening gates,  and  march,  by  herself,  up  to  a  distant  farm  where 
one  was  kept ;  and  when  her  purpose  was  served  would  return 
by  the  same  means.  At  the  age  of  about  fifteen  her  litters 
began  to  be  reduced  to  four  or  five ;  and  such  a  litter  she  ex- 
hibited when  in  her  fatting-pen.  She  proved,  when  fat,  good 
bacon,  juicy,  and  tender ;  the  rind,  or  sward,  was  remarkably 
thin.  At  a  moderate  computation  she  was  allowed  to  have  been 
the  fruitful  parent  of  three  hundred  pigs  :  a  prodigious  instance 
of  fecundity  in  so  large  a  quadruped  !  She  was  killed  in  spring 
1775. 

I  am,  &c. 


OF  SELBORNE  171 

LETTER  XXXIV. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  May  9,  1776. 
DEAR  SIR, 

" admorunt  ubera  tigres." 

WE  have  remarked  in  a  former  letter  how  much  incongruous 
animals,  in  a  lonely  state,  may  be  attached  to  each  other  from 
a  spirit  of  sociality ;  in  this  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  recount  a 
different  motive  which  has  been  known  to  create  as  strange  a 
fondness. 

My  friend  had  a  little  helpless  leveret  brought  to  him,  which 
the  servants  fed  with  milk  in  a  spoon,  and  about  the  same  time 
his  cat  kittened  and  the  young  were  dispatched  and  buried. 
The  hare  was  soon  lost,  and  supposed  to  be  gone  the  way  of 
most  fondlings,  to  be  killed  by  some  dog  or  cat.  However,  in 
about  a  fortnight,  as  the  master  was  sitting  in  his  garden  in  the 
dusk  of  the  evening,  he  observed  his  cat,  with  tail  erect,  trotting 
towards  him,  and  calling  with  little  short  inward  notes  of  com- 
placency, such  as  they  use  towards  their  kittens,  and  something 
gamboling  after,  which  proved  to  be  the  leveret  that  the  cat 
had  supported  with  her  milk,  and  continued  to  support  with 
great  affection. 

Thus  was  a  graminivorous  animal  nurtured  by  a  carnivorous 
and  predaceous  one ! 

Why  so  cruel  and  sanguinary  a  beast  as  a  cat,  of  the  ferocious 
genus  of  Feles,  the  murium  leo,  as  Uuuunu  calls  it,  should  be 
affected  with  any  tenderness  towards  an  animal  which  is  it's 
natural  prey,  is  not  so  easy  to  determine. 

This  strange  affection  probably  was  occasioned  by  that  desi- 
derium,  those  tender  maternal  feelings,  which  the  loss  of  her 
kittens  had  awakened  in  her  breast ;  and  by  the  complacency 
and  ease  she  derived  to  herself  from  the  procuring  her  teats  to 
be  drawn,  which  were  too  much  distended  with  milk,  till,  from 
habit,  she  become  as  much  delighted  with  this  foundling  as  if  it 
had  been  her  real  offspring. 

This  incident  is  no  bad  solution  of  that  strange  circumstance 
which  grave  historians  as  well  as  the  poets  assert,  of  exposed 
children  being  sometimes  nurtured  by  female  wild  beasts  that 
probably  had  lost  their  young.  For  it  is  not  one  whit  more 


172  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

marvellous  that  Romulus  and  Remus,  in  their  infant  state,  should 
be  nursed  by  a  she-wolf,  than  that  a  poor  little  sucking  leveret 
should  be  fostered  and  cherished  by  a  bloody  grimalkin. 

" viridi  foetam  Mavortis  in  antro 

' '  Procubuisse  lupam  :  gerninos  huic  ubera  circum 
"  Ludere  pendentes  pueros,  et  lambere  matrem 
"  Impavidos  :  illam  tereti  cervice  reflexam 
"  Mulcere  alternos,  et  corpora  fingere  lingua."  l 


LETTER  XXXV. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  May  20,  1770. 


DEAR  SIR, 


LANDS  that  are  subject  to  frequent  inundations  are  always  poor ; 
and  probably  the  reason  may  be  because  the  worms  are  drowned. 
The  most  insignificant  insects  and  reptiles  are  of  much  more 
consequence,  and  have  much  more  influence  in  the  oeconomy  of 
Nature,  than  the  incurious  are  aware  of;  and  are  mighty  in  their 
effect,  from  their  minuteness,  which  renders  them  less  an  object  of 
attention ;  and  from  their  numbers  and  fecundity.  Earth-worms, 
though  in  appearance  a  small  and  despicable  link  in  the  chain 
of  Nature,  yet,  if  lost,  would  make  a  lamentable  chasm.  For, 
to  say  nothing  of  half  the  birds,  and  some  quadrupeds  which 
are  almost  entirely  supported  by  them,  worms  seem  to  be  the 
great  promoters  of  vegetation,  which  would  proceed  but  lamely 
without  them,  by  boring,  perforating,  and  loosening  the  soil, 
and  rendering  it  pervious  to  rains  and  the  fibres  of  plants,  by 
drawing  straws  and  stalks  of  leaves  and  twigs  into  it ;  and,  most 
of  all,  by  throwing  up  such  infinite  numbers  of  lumps  of  earth 
called  worm-casts,  which,  being  their  excrement,  is  a  fine  manure 
for  grain  and  grass.  Worms  probably  provide  new  soil  for  hills 
and  slopes  where  the  rain  washes  the  earth  away ;  and  they 
affect  slopes,  probably  to  avoid  being  flooded.  Gardeners  and 
farmers  express  their  detestation  of  worms ;  the  former  because 
they  render  their  walks  unsightly,  and  make  them  much  work : 
and  the  latter  because,  as  they  think,  worms  eat  their  green 
corn.  But  these  men  would  find  that  the  earth  without  worms 
would  soon  become  cold,  hard-bound,  and  void  of  fermentation  ; 

n.,  viii.,  630-34.] 


OF  SELBORNE  173 

and  consequently  steril :  and  besides,  in  favour  of  worms,  it  should 
be  hinted  that  green  corn,  plants,  and  flowers,  are  not  so  much 
injured  by  them  as  by  many  species  of  coleoptera  (scarabs),  and 
tipulci'  (long-legs)  in  their  larva,  or  grub-state  ;  and  by  unnoticed 
myriads  of  small  shell-less  snails,  called  slugs,  which  silently  and 
imperceptibly  make  amazing  havock  in  the  field  and  garden.1 

These  hints  we  think  proper  to  th/ow  out  in  order  to  set  the 
inquisitive  and  discerning  to  work.2 

A  good  monography  of  worms  would  afford  much  entertain- 
ment and  information  at  the  same  time,  and  would  open  a  large 
and  new  field  in  natural  history.  Worms  work  most  in  the 
spring  ;  but  by  no  means  lie  torpid  in  the  dead  months  ;  are  out 
every  mild  night  in  the  winter,  as  any  person  may  be  convinced 
that  will  take  the  pains  to  examine  his  grass-plots  with  a  candle  ; 
are  hermaphrodites,  and  much  addicted  to  venery,  and  conse- 
quently very  prolific. 

I  am,  &c. 


LETTER  XXXVI.3 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  Nov.  22,  1777. 


DEAR  SIR, 


You  cannot  but  remember  that  the  twenty-sixth  and  twenty- 
seventh  of  last  March  were  very  hot  days  •  so  sultry  that  every- 
body complained  and  were  restless  under  those  sensations  to 
which  they  had  not  been  reconciled  by  gradual  approaches. 

This  sudden  summer-like  heat  was  attended  by  many  summer 
coincidences ;  for  on  those  two  days  the  thermometer  rose  to 
sixty-six  in  the  shade ;  many  species  of  insects  revived  and  came 
forth ;  some  bees  swarmed  in  this  neighbourhood ;  the  old  tor- 
toise, near  Lewes,  in  Sussex,  awakened  and  came  forth  out  of  it's 

1  Farmer   Young,  of  Norton-farm,  says  that  this  spring  (1777)  about  four  acres 
of  his  wheat  in  one  field  was  entirely  destroyed  by  slugs,  which  swarmed  on  the 
blades  of  corn,  and  devoured  it  as  fast  as  it  sprang. 

2  [It  is  now  only  necessary  to  refer  the  reader  to  Darwin's  paper  ' '  On  the 
Formation  of  Mould"  (Geol.  Trans.,  2nd  series,  vol.  v.,  p.  505),  and  his  book  on 
The  Formation  of  Vegetable  Mould  through  the  action  of  Worms  (1881).     Darwin 
only  quotes  this  anticipatory  letter  in  a  cursory  way,  and  seems  hardly  aware  of  its 
importance.] 

3  [This  letter  is  printed  in  Barrington's  Miscellanies,  p.  225.] 


174  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

dormitory ;  and,  what  is  most  to  my  present  purpose,  many 
house-swallows  appeared  and  were  very  alert  in  many  places,  and 
particularly  at  Cobham,  in  Surrey. 

But  as  that  short  warm  period  was  succeeded  as  well  as  preceded 
by  harsh  severe  weather,  with  frequent  frosts  and  ice,  and  cutting 
winds,  the  insects  withdrew,  the  tortoise  retired  again  into  the 
ground,  and  the  swallows  were  seen  no  more  until  the  tenth  of 
April,  when,  the  rigour  of  the  spring  abating,  a  softer  season 
began  to  prevail. 

Again;  it  appears  by  my  journals  for  many  years  past,  that 
house-martins  retire,  to  a  bird,  about  the  beginning  of  October  ;  so 
that  a  person  not  very  observant  of  such  matters  would  conclude 
that  they  had  taken  their  last  farewell  :  but  then  it  may  be  seen 
in  my  diaries  also  that  considerable  flocks  have  discovered  them- 
selves again  in  the  first  week  of  November,  and  often  on  the  fourth 
day  of  that  month  only  for  one  day  ;  and  that  not  as  if  they  were 
in  actual  migration,  but  playing  about  at  their  leisure  and  feeding 
calmly,  as  if  no  enterprize  of  moment  at  all  agitated  their  spirits.1 
And  this  was  the  case  in  the  beginning  of  this  very  month ;  for, 
on  the  fourth  of  November,  more  than  twenty  house-martins,  which, 
in  appearance,  had  all  departed  about  the  seventh  of  October,  were 
seen  again,  for  that  one  morning  only,  sporting  between  my  fields 
and  the  Hanger,  and  feasting  on  insects  which  swarmed  in  that 
sheltered  district.  The  preceding  day  was  wet  and  blustering, 
but  the  fourth  was  dark  and  mild,  and  soft,  the  wind  at  south- 
west, and  the  thermometer  at  58'i ;  a  pitch  not  common  at  that 
season  of  the  year.  Moreover,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  add  in  this 
place,  that  whenever  the  thermometer  is  above  50  the  bat  comes 
flitting  out  in  every  autumnal  and  winter-month.2 

From  all  these  circumstances  laid  together,  it  is  obvious  that 
torpid  insects,  reptiles}  and  quadrupeds,  are  awakened  from  their 
profoundest  slumbers  by  a  little  untimely  warmth  ;  and  therefore 
that  nothing  so  much  promotes  this  death-like  stupor  as  a  defect 
of  heat.  And  farther,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  two  whole 
species,  or  at  least  many  individuals  of  those  two  species,  of  British 

1  [This  description  well  suits  the  swallow  kind  on  their  autumnal  migration,  which 
is  always  leisurely.     It  needs  an  attentive  observer  to  discover  that  they  are  actually 
travelling,  so  much  do  they  seem  to  dally  on  the  way.     White  had  apparently  never 
seen  them  thus  travelling  in  sufficient  numbers  to  attract  his  attention  ;  hence  the 
erroneous  conclusion  in  the  last  paragraph  of  this  letter.    See  Introduction,  p.  xxxv.] 

2  [I  have  seen  the  Pipistrelle,  the  commonest  of  our  bats,  flying  in  every  month 
in  the  year ;  and  whenever  gnats  are  tempted  to  come  forth,  the  bat  is  sure  to 
follow  for  a  meal.— Bell.} 


OF  SELBORNE  175 

hirundines,  do  never  leave  this  island  at  all,  but  partake  of  the 
same  benumbed  state  :  for  we  cannot  suppose  that,  after  a  month's 
absence,  house-martins  can  return  from  southern  regions  to  appear 
for  one  morning  in  November,  or  that  house-swallows  should  leave 
the  districts  of  Africa  to  enjoy,  in  March,  the  transient  summer 
of  a  couple  of  days. 

I  am,  &c. 


LETTER  XXXVII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  Jan.  8,  1778. 
DEAR  SIR, 

THERE  was  in  this  village  several  years  ago  a  miserable  pauper, 
who,  from  his  birth,  was  afflicted  with  a  leprosy,  as  far  as  we  are 
aware  of  a  singular  kind,  since  it  affected  only  the  palms  of  his 
hands  and  the  soles  of  his  feet.  This  scaly  eruption  usually  broke 
out  twice  in  the  year,  at  the  spring  and  fall ;  and,  by  peeling 
away,  left  the  skin  so  thin  and  tender  that  neither  his  hands  or 
feet  were  able  to  perform  their  functions  ;  so  that  the  poor  object 
was  half  his  time  on  crutches,  incapable  of  employ,  and  languish- 
ing in  a  tiresome  state  of  indolence  and  inactivity.  His  habit 
was  lean,  lank,  and  cadaverous.  In  this  sad  plight  he  dragged 
on  a  miserable  existence,  a  burden  to  himself  and  his  parish, 
which  was  obliged  to  support  him  till  he  was  relieved  by  death 
at  more  than  thirty  years  of  age. 

The  good  women,  who  love  to  account  for  every  defect  in 
children  by  the  doctrine  of  longing,  said  that  his  mother  felt  a 
violent  propensity  for  oysters,  which  she  was  unable  to  gratify  ; 
and  that  the  black  rough  scurf  on  his  hands  and  feet  were  the 
shells  of  that  fish.  We  knew  his  parents,  neither  of  which  were 
lepers  ;  his  father  in  particular  lived  to  be  far  advanced  in  years. 

In  all  ages  the  leprosy  has  made  dreadful  havock  among  man- 
kind. The  Israelites  seem  to  have  been  greatly  afflicted  with  it 
from  the  most  remote  times ;  as  appears  from  the  peculiar  and 
repeated  injunctions  given  them  in  the  Levitical  law.1  Nor  was 
the  rancour  of  this  foul  disorder  much  abated  in  the  last  period 
of  their  commonwealth,  as  may  be  seen  in  many  passages  of  the 
New  Testament. 

1  See  Leviticus,  chap.  xiii.  and  xiv. 


176  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

Some  centuries  ago  this  horrible  distemper  prevailed  all  Europe 
over ;  and  our  forefathers  were  by  no  means  exempt,  as  appears 
by  the  large  provision  made  for  objects  labouring  under  this 
calamity.  There  was  an  hospital  for  female  lepers  in  the  diocese 
of  Lincoln,  a  noble  one  near  Durham,  three  in  London  and  South- 
rvark,  and  perhaps  many  more  in  or  near  our  great  towns  and 
cities.  Moreover,  some  crowned  heads,  and  other  wealthy  and 
charitable  personages,  bequeathed  large  legacies  to  such  poor 
people  as  languished  under  this  hopeless  infirmity. 

It  must  therefore,  in  these  days,  be,  to  an  humane  and  think- 
ing person,  a  matter  of  equal  wonder  and  satisfaction,  when  he 
contemplates  how  nearly  this  pest  is  eradicated,  and  observes 
that  a  leper  now  is  a  rare  sight.  He  will,  moreover,  when 
engaged  in  such  a  train  of  thought,  naturally  enquire  for  the 
reason.  This  happy  change  perhaps  may  have  originated  and 
been  continued  from  the  much  smaller  quantity  of  salted  meat 
and  fish  now  eaten  in  these  kingdoms  ;  from  the  use  of  linen 
next  the  skin ;  from  the  plenty  of  better  bread ;  and  from  the 
profusion  of  fruits,  roots,  legumes,  and  greens,  so  common  in 
every  family.  Three  or  four  centuries  ago,  before  there  were 
any  enclosures,  sown-grasses,  field-turnips,  or  field- carrots,  or  hay, 
all  the  cattle  which  had  grown  fat  in  summer,  and  were  not 
killed  for  winter-use,  were  turned  out  soon  after  Michaelmas  to 
shift  as  they  could  through  the  dead  months ;  so  that  no  fresh 
meat  could  be  had  in  winter  or  spring.  Hence  the  marvellous 
account  of  the  vast  stores  of  salted  flesh  found  in  the  larder  of 
the  eldest  Spencer1  in  the  days  of  Edward  the  Second,  even  so 
late  in  the  spring  as  the  third  of  May.  It  was  from  magazines 
like  these  that  the  turbulent  barons  supported  in  idleness  their 
riotous  swarms  of  retainers  ready  for  any  disorder  or  mischief. 
But  agriculture  is  now  arrived  at  such  a  pitch  of  perfection,  that 
our  best  and  fattest  meats  are  killed  in  the  winter ;  and  no  man 
need  eat  salted  flesh,  unless  he  prefers  it,  that  has  money  to  buy 
fresh. 

One  cause  of  this  distemper  might  be,  no  doubt,  the  quantity 
of  wretched  fresh  and  salt  fish  consumed  by  the  commonalty  at 
all  seasons  as  well  as  in  lent ;  which  our  poor  now  would  hardly 
be  persuaded  to  touch. 

The  use  of  linen  changes,  shirts  or  shifts,  in  the  room  of  sordid 
and  filthy  woollen,  long  worn  next  the  skin,  is  a  matter  of  neat- 

1  Viz.  six  hundred  bacons,  eighty  carcasses  of  beef,  and  six  hundred  muttons. 


OF  SELBORNE  177 

ness  comparatively  modern ;  but  must  prove  a  great  means  of 
preventing  cutaneous  ails.  At  this  very  time  woollen  instead  of 
linen  prevails  among  the  poorer  Welch,  who  are  subject  to  foul 
eruptions. 

The  plenty  of  good  wheaten  bread  that  now  is  found  among 
all  ranks  of  people  in  the  south,  instead  of  that  miserable  sort 
which  used  in  old  days  to  be  made  of  barley  or  beans,  may 
contribute  not  a  little  to  the  sweetening  their  blood  and  correct- 
ing their  juices  ;  for  the  inhabitants  of  mountainous  districts,  to 
this  day,  are  still  liable  to  the  itch  and  other  cutaneous  disorders, 
from  a  wretchedness  and  poverty  of  diet. 

As  to  the  produce  of  a  garden,  every  middle-aged  person  of 
observation  may  perceive,  within  his  own  memory,  both  in  town 
and  country,  how  vastly  the  consumption  of  vegetables  is  increased. 
Green-stalls  in  cities  now  support  multitudes  in  a  comfortable 
state,  while  gardeners  get  fortunes.  Every  decent  labourer  also 
has  his  garden,  which  is  half  his  support,  as  well  as  his  delight ; 
and  common  farmers  provide  plenty  of  beans,  peas,  and  greens, 
for  their  hinds  to  eat  with  their  bacon ;  and  those  few  that  do 
not  are  despised  for  their  sordid  parsimony,  and  looked  upon  as 
regardless  of  the  welfare  of  their  dependants.  Potatoes  have 
prevailed  in  this  little  district,  by  means  of  premiums,  within 
these  twenty  years  only  ;  and  are  much  esteemed  here  now  by 
the  poor,  who  would  scarce  have  ventured  to  taste  them  in  the 
last  reign. 

Our  Saxon  ancestors  certainly  had  some  sort  of  cabbage, 
because  they  call  the  month  of  February  sprout-cale ;  but,  long 
after  their  days,  the  cultivation  of  gardens  was  little  attended  to. 
The  religious,  being  men  of  leisure,  and  keeping  up  a  constant 
correspondence  with  Italy,  were  the  first  people  among  us  that 
had  gardens  and  fruit-trees  in  any  perfection,  within  the  walls 
of  their  abbies l  and  priories.  The  barons  neglected  every 
pursuit  that  did  not  lead  to  war  or  tend  to  the  pleasure  of  the 
chase. 

It  was  not  till  gentlemen  took  up  the  study  of  horticulture 
themselves  that  the  knowledge  of  gardening  made  such  hasty 
advances.  Lord  Cobham,  Lord  Ila,  and  Mr.  Waller  of  Beaconsfield, 
were  some  of  the  first  people  of  rank  that  promoted  the  elegant 

1  "  In  monasteries  the  lamp  of  knowledge  continued  to  burn,  however  dim1/. 
"  In  them  men  of  business  were  formed  for  the  state  :  the  art  of  writing  was  culti- 
"  vated  by  the  monks  ;  they  were  the  only  proficients  in  mechanics,  gardening,  and 
"  architecture."  See  Dalrymples  Annals  of  Scotland. 

12 


178  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

science  of  ornamenting  without  despising  the  superintendence 
of  the  kitchen  quarters  and  fruit  walls. 

A  remark  made  by  the  excellent  Mr.  Ray  in  his  Tour  of 
Europe  at  once  surprises  us,  and  corroborates  what  has  been 
advanced  above ;  for  we  find  him  observing,  so  late  as  his  days, 
that  "  the  Italians  use  several  herbs  for  sallets,  which  are  not  yet 
"  or  have  not  been  but  lately  used  in  England,  viz.  selleri  (celery) 
"  which  is  nothing  else  but  the  sweet  smallage  ;  the  young  shoots 
"  whereof,  with  a  little  of  the  head  of  the  root  cut  off,  they  eat 
"raw  with  oil  and  pepper".  And  farther  he  adds  "curled  endive 
"blanched  is  much  used  beyond  seas ;  and,  for  a  raw  sallet,  seemed 
"to  excel  lettuce  itself".  Now  this  journey  was  undertaken  no 
longer  ago  than  in  the  year  1663. 

I  am,  &c. 


LETTER  XXXVIII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

"  Forte  puer,  comitum  seductus  ab  agmine  fido, 
"  Dixerat,  ecquis  adest?  et,  adest,  responderat  echo. 
"  Hie  stupet ;   utque  aciem  partes  di visit  in  omnes  ; 
"  Voce,  veni,  clamat  magna.     Vocat  ilia  vocantem."  * 

Selborne,  Feb.  12,  1778. 
DEAR  SIR, 

IN  a  district  so  diversified  as  this,  so  full  of  hollow  vales  and 
hanging  woods,  it  is  no  wonder  that  echoes  should  abound. 
Many  we  have  discovered  that  return  the  cry  of  a  pack  of  dogs, 
the  notes  of  a  hunting-horn,  a  tunable  ring  of  bells,  or  the  melody 
of  birds,  very  agreeably :  but  we  were  still  at  a  loss  for  a  poiy- 
syllabical,  articulate  echo,  till  a  young  gentleman,  who  had  parted 
from  his  company  in  a  summer  evening  walk,  and  was  calling 
after  them,  stumbled  upon  a  very  curious  one  in  a  spot  where  it 
might  least  be  expected.  At  first  he  was  much  surprised,  and 
could  not  be  persuaded  but  that  he  was  mocked  by  some  boy ; 
but,  repeating  his  trials  in  several  languages,  and  finding  his 
respondent  to  be  a  very  adroit  polyglot,  he  then  discerned  the 
deception. 

This  echo  in  an  evening,  before  rural  noises  cease,  would  repeat 

^Ov.,  Met.,i\\.t  379-80.] 


OF  SELBORNE  179 

ten  syllables  most  articulately  and  distinctly,  especially  if  quick 
dactyls  were  chosen.  The  last  syllables  of 

"Tityre,  tu  patulae  recubans " 

were  as  audibly  and  intelligibly  returned  as  the  first :  and  there 
is  no  doubt,  could  trial  have  been  made,  but  that  at  midnight, 
when  the  air  is  very  elastic,  and  a  dead  stillness  prevails,  one  or 
two  syllables  more  might  have  been  obtained  ;  but  the  distance 
rendered  so  late  an  experiment  very  inconvenient. 

Quick  dactyls,  we  observed,  succeeded  best ;  for  when  we 
came  to  try  it's  powers  in  slow,  heavy,  embarrassed  spondees  of 
the  same  number  of  syllables, 

"Monstrum  horrendum,  informe,  ingens " 

we  could  perceive  a  return  but  of  four  or  five. 

All  echoes  have  some  one  place  to  which  they  are  returned 
stronger  and  more  distinct  than  to  any  other ;  and  that  is  always 
the  place  that  lies  at  right  angles  with  the  object  of  repercussion, 
and  is  not  too  near,  nor  too  far  off.  Buildings,  or  naked  rocks, 
re-echo  much  more  articulately  than  hanging  wood  or  vales ; 
because  in  the  latter  the  voice  is  as  it  were  entangled,  and  em- 
barrassed in  the  covert,  and  weakened  in  the  rebound. 

The  true  object  of  this  echo,  as  we  found  by  various  experiments, 
is  the  stone-built,  tiled  hop-kiln  in  Gally-lane,  which  measures 
in  front  40  feet,  and  from  the  ground  to  the  eaves  12  feet.  The 
true  centrum  phonicum,  or  just  distance,  is  one  particular  spot  in 
the  Kings-field,  in  the  path  to  Nore-hill,  on  the  very  brink  of  the 
steep  balk  above  the  hollow  cart  way.  In  this  case  there  is  no 
choice  of  distance ;  but  the  path,  by  meer  contingency,  happens 
to  be  the  lucky,  the  identical  spot,  because  the  ground  rises  or 
falls  so  immediately,  if  the  speaker  either  retires  or  advances, 
that  his  mouth  would  at  once  be  above  or  below  the  object. 

We  measured  this  polysyllabical  echo  with  great  exactness,  and 
found  the  distance  to  fall  very  short  of  Dr.  Plot's  rule  for  distinct 
articulation :  for  the  Doctor,  in  his  history  of  Oxfordshire,  allows 
120  feet  for  the  return  of  each  syllable  distinctly:  hence  this 
echo,  which  gives  ten  distinct  syllables,  ought  to  measure  400 
yards,  or  120  feet  to  each  syllable  ;  whereas  our  distance  is  only 
258  yards,  or  near  75  feet,  to  each  syllable.  Thus  our  measure 
falls  short  of  the  Doctor's,  as  five  to  eight :  but  then  it  must  be 
acknowledged  that  this  candid  philosopher  was  convinced  after- 


180  THE  NATUEAL  HISTORY 

wards,  that  some  latitude  must  be  admitted  of  in  the  distance  of 
echoes  according  to  time  and  place. 

When  experiments  of  this  sort  are  making,  it  should  always 
be  remembered  that  weather  and  the  time  of  day  have  a  vast 
influence  on  an  echo ;  for  a  dull,  heavy,  moist  air  deadens  and 
clogs  the  sound ;  and  hot  sunshine  renders  the  air  thin  and  weak, 
and  deprives  it  of  all  it's  springiness  ;  and  a  ruffling  wind  quite 
defeats  the  whole.  In  a  still,  clear,  dewy  evening  the  air  is 
most  elastic  ;  and  perhaps  the  later  the  hour  the  more  so.1 

Echo  has  always  been  so  amusing  to  the  imagination,  that  the 
poets  have  personified  her ;  and  in  their  hands  she  has  been  the 
occasion  of  many  a  beautiful  fiction.  Nor  need  the  gravest  man 
be  ashamed  to  appear  taken  with  such  a  phenomenon,  since 
it  may  become  the  subject  of  philosophical  or  mathematical 
inquiries. 

One  should  have  imagined  that  echoes,  if  not  entertaining, 
must  at  least  have  been  harmless  and  inoffensive ;  yet  Virgil 
advances  a  strange  notion,  that  they  are  injurious  to  bees.  After 
enumerating  some  probable  and  reasonable  annoyances,  such  as 
prudent  owners  would  wish  far  removed  from  their  bee-gardens, 
he  adds 

" — —  aut  ubi  concava  pulsu 

"Saxa  sonant,  vocisque  offensa  resultat  imago."2 

This  wild  and  fanciful  assertion  will  hardly  be  admitted  by 
the  philosophers  of  these  days  ;  especially  as  they  all  now  seem 
agreed  that  insects  are  not  furnished  with  any  organs  of  hearing 
at  all.3  But  if  it  should  be  urged,  that  though  they  cannot  hear 
yet  perhaps  they  may  feel  the  repercussions  of  sounds,  I  grant  it 
is  possible  they  may.  Yet  that  these  impressions  are  distasteful 
or  hurtful,  I  deny,  because  bees,  in  good  summers,  thrive  well  in 
my  outlet,  where  the  echoes  are  very  strong :  for  this  village  is 

1[Tyndall's  experiments  have  shown  that  there  is  no  connection  between  a  clear 
atmosphere  and  ready  transmission  of  sound.  Rain,  hail,  snow  and  fog  have  no 
power  to  obstruct  sound,  but  "  acoustic  clouds,"  due  to  differences  of  heat  or  water- 
vapour,  may  render  days  of  extraordinary  optical  transparency  days  of  equally 
extraordinary  acoustic  opacity.  (Lectures  on  Sound ;  Lecture  VII.).] 

^[Georgics,  iv.,  19.] 

3  [It  is  now  known  that  certain  insects  possess  elaborate  organs  of  hearing. 
The  experimental  proof  that  they  are  really  concerned  with  the  perception  of  sound 
is  particularly  clear  in  the  case  of  the  male  gnat,  where  the  organ  is  lodged  in  an 
enlarged  joint  at  the  base  of  the  antenna.  Auditory  organs  have  also  been  described 
in  the  forelegs  of  crickets  and  grasshoppers,  as  well  as  in  the  first  abdominal  seg- 
ment of  locusts.] 


OF  SELBORNE  181 

another  Anathoth,  a  place  of  responses  or  echoes.  Besides,  it  does 
not  appear  from  experiment  that  bees  are  in  any  way  capable  of 
being  affected  by  sounds  :  for  I  have  often  tried  my  own  with  a 
large  speaking-trumpet  held  close  to  their  hives,  and  with  such 
an  exertion  of  voice  as  would  have  hailed  a  ship  at  the  distance 
of  a  mile,  and  still  these  insects  pursued  their  various  employ- 
ments undisturbed,  and  without  shewing  the  least  sensibility  or 
resentment. 

Some  time  since  it's  discovery  this  echo  is  become  totally 
silent,  though  the  object,  or  hop-kiln,  remains  :  nor  is  there  any 
mystery  in  this  defect ;  for  the  field  between  is  planted  as  an 
hop-garden,  and  the  voice  of  the  speaker  is  totally  absorbed  and 
lost  among  the  poles  and  entangled  foliage  of  the  hops.  And 
when  the  poles  are  removed  in  autumn  the  disappointment  is  the 
same  ;  because  a  tall  quick-set  hedge,  nurtured  up  for  the  purpose 
of  shelter  to  the  hop  ground,  entirely  interrupts  the  impulse  and 
repercussion  of  the  voice  :  so  that  till  those  obstructions  are  re- 
moved no  more  of  it's  garrulity  can  be  expected. 

Should  any  gentleman  of  fortune  think  an  echo  in  his  park 
or  outlet  a  pleasing  incident,  he  might  build  one  at  little  or  no 
expense.  For  whenever  he  had  occasion  for  a  new  barn,  stable, 
dog-kennel,  or  the  like  structure,  it  would  be  only  needful  to  erect 
this  building  on  the  gentle  declivity  of  an  hill,  with  a  like  rising 
opposite  to  it,  at  a  few  hundred  yards  distance ;  and  perhaps 
success  might  be  the  easier  ensured  could  some  canal,  lake,  or 
stream,  intervene.  From  a  seat  at  the  centrum  phonicum  he  and 
his  friends  might  amuse  themselves  sometimes  of  an  evening  with 
the  prattle  of  this  loquacious  nymph  ;  of  whose  complacency  and 
decent  reserve  more  may  be  said  than  can  with  truth  of  every 
individual  of  her  sex  ;  since  she  is  — 

" —  —  —  —  —  —  quse  nee  rettcere  \oq\ient\, 

"  Nee  prior  ipsa  loqui  didicit  resonabilis  echo."  * 

I  am,  &c. 

P.S.  The  classic  reader  will,  I  trust,  pardon  the  following 
lovely  quotation,  so  finely  describing  echoes,  and  so  poetically 
accounting  for  their  causes  from  popular  superstition  : 

1 '  Quae  bene  quom  videas,  rationem  reddere  possis 
"  Tute  tibi  atque  aliis,  quo  pacto  per  loca  sola 
"  Saxa  pareis  formas  verborum  ex  ordine  reddant, 

>[Ov.,  Met.,  iii.,  357-58.] 


182  THE  NATURAL  HISTOEY 


'  Palanteis  comites  quom  monteis  inter  opacos 
'  Quaerimus,  et  magna  disperses  voce  ciemus. 
'  Sex  etiam,  aut  septem  loca  vidi  reddere  voces 
'  Unam  quom  jaceres :  ita  colles  collibus  ipsis 

Verba  repulsantes  iterabant  dicta  referre. 
'  Hasc  loca  capripedes  Satyros,  Nymphasque  tenere 

Finitimi  fingunt,  et  Faunos  esse  loquuntur  ; 
'  Quorum  noctivago  strepitu,  ludoque  jocanti 
'  Adfirmant  volgo  taciturna  silentia  rumpi, 
'  Chordarumque  sonos  fieri,  dulceisque  querelas, 

Tibia  quas  fundit  digitis  pulsata  canentum  : 
'  Et  genus  agricolum  late  sentiscere,  quom  Pan 
'  Pinea  semiferi  capitis  velamina  quassans, 
'  Unco  saepe  labro  calamos  percurrit  hianteis, 

Fistula  silvestrem  ne  cesset  fundere  musam. ' ' 

Lucretius,  Lib.  iv.,  1.  576. 


LETTER  XXXIX. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  May  13,  1778. 


DEAR  SIR, 


AMONG  the  many  singularities  attending  those  amusing  birds  the 
swifts,  I  am  now  confirmed  in  the  opinion  that  we  have  every 
year  the  same  number  of  pairs  invariably  ;  at  least  the  result  of 
my  inquiry  has  been  exactly  the  same  for  a  long  time  past.  The 
swallows  and  martins  are  so  numerous,  and  so  widely  distributed 
over  the  village,  that  it  is  hardly  possible  to  recount  them  ;  while 
the  swifts,  though  they  do  not  all  build  in  the  church,  yet  so 
frequently  haunt  it,  and  play  and  rendezvous  round  it,  that  they 
are  easily  enumerated.  The  number  that  I  constantly  find  are 
eight  pairs ;  about  half  of  which  reside  in  the  church,  and  the 
rest  build  in  some  of  the  lowest  and  meanest  thatched  cottages. 
Now  as  these  eight  pairs,  allowance  being  made  for  accidents, 
breed  yearly  eight  pairs  more,  what  becomes  annually  of  this 
increase ;  and  what  determines  every  spring  which  pairs  shall 
visit  us,  and  reoccupy  their  ancient  haunts  ? 

Ever  since  I  have  attended  to  the  subject  of  ornithology,  I 
have  always  supposed  that  that  sudden  reverse  of  affection,  that 
strange  avrio-ropyr),  which  immediately  succeeds  in  the  feathered 
kind  to  the  most  passionate  fondness,  is  the  occasion  of  an  equal 
dispersion  of  birds  over  the  face  of  the  earth.  Without  this 
provision  one  favourite  district  would  be  crowded  with  inhabi- 
tants, while  others  would  be  destitute  and  forsaken.  But  the 
parent  birds  seem  to  maintain  a  jealous  superiority,  and  to  oblige 


OF  SELBORNE  183 

the  young  to  seek  for  new  abodes  :  and  the  rivalry  of  the  males, 
in  many  kinds,  prevents  their  crowding  the  one  on  the  other. 
Whether  the  swallows  and  house-martins  return  in  the  same 
exact  number  annually  is  not  easy  to  say,  for  reasons  given 
above :  but  it  is  apparent,  as  I  have  remarked  before  in  my 
Monographies,  that  the  numbers  returning  bear  no  manner  of 
proportion  to  the  numbers  retiring. 


LETTER   XL. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  June  2,  1778. 
DEAR  SIR, 

THE  standing  objection  to  botany  has  always  been,  that  it  is  a 
pursuit  that  amuses  the  fancy  and  exercises  the  memory,  without 
improving  the  mind  or  advancing  any  real  knowledge  :  and  where 
the  science  is  carried  no  farther  than  a  mere  systematic  classifica- 
tion, the  charge  is  but  too  true.  But  the  botanist  that  is  desirous 
of  wiping  off  this  aspersion  should  be  by  no  means  content  with 
a  list  of  names  ;  he  should  study  plants  philosophically,  should 
investigate  the  laws  of  vegetation,  should  examine  the  powers 
and  virtues  of  efficacious  herbs,  should  promote  their  cultivation ; 
and  graft  the  gardener,  the  planter,  and  the  husbandman,  on  the 
phytologist.  Not  that  system  is  by  any  means  to  be  thrown  aside ; 
without  system  the  field  of  Nature  would  be  a  pathless  wilderness ; 
but  system  should  be  subservient  to,  not  the  main  object  of,  pursuit. 
Vegetation  is  highly  worthy  of  our  attention ;  and  in  itself  is 
of  the  utmost  consequence  to  mankind,  and  productive  of  many 
of  the  greatest  comforts  and  elegancies  of  life.  To  plants  we 
owe  timber,  bread,  beer,  honey,  wine,  oil,  linen,  cotton,  &c., 
what  not  only  strengthens  our  hearts,  and  exhilarates  our  spirits, 
but  what  secures  from  inclemencies  of  weather  and  adorns  our 
persons.  Man,  in  his  true  state  of  nature,  seems  to  be  subsisted 
by  spontaneous  vegetation :  in  middle  climes,  where  grasses 
prevail,  he  mixes  some  animal  food  with  the  produce  of  the 
field  and  garden :  and  it  is  towards  the  polar  extremes  only  that, 
like  his  kindred  bears  and  wolves,  he  gorges  himself  with  flesh 
alone,  and  is  driven,  to  what  hunger  has  never  been  known  to 
compel  the  very  beasts,  to  prey  on  his  own  species.1 

1  See  the  late  Voyages  to  the  South-seas. 


184  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

The  productions  of  vegetation  have  had  a  vast  influence  on 
the  commerce  of  nations,  and  have  been  the  great  promoters  of 
navigation,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  articles  of  sugar,  tea,  tobacco, 
opium,  ginseng,  betel,  paper,  &c.  As  every  climate  has  its 
peculiar  produce,  our  natural  wants  bring  on  a  mutual  intercourse ; 
so  that  by  means  of  trade  each  distant  part  is  supplied  with  the 
growth  of  every  latitude.  But,  without  the  knowledge  of  plants 
and  their  culture,  we  must  have  been  content  with  our  hips  and 
haws,  without  enjoying  the  delicate  fruits  of  India  and  the 
salutiferous  drugs  of  Peru. 

Instead  of  examining  the  minute  distinctions  of  every  various 
species  of  each  obscure  genus,  the  botanist  should  endeavour  to 
make  himself  acquainted  with  those  that  are  useful.  You  shall 
see  a  man  readily  ascertain  every  herb  of  the  field,  yet  hardly 
know  wheat  from  barley,  or  at  least  one  sort  of  wheat  or  barley 
from  another. 

But  of  all  sorts  of  vegetation  the  grasses  seem  to  be  most 
neglected ; l  neither  the  farmer  nor  the  grazier  seem  to  distin- 
guish the  annual  from  the  perennial,  the  hardy  from  the  tender, 
nor  the  succulent  and  nutritive  from  the  dry  and  juiceless. 

The  study  of  grasses  would  be  of  great  consequence  to  a 
northerly,  and  grazing  kingdom.  The  botanist  that  could  im- 
prove the  swerd  of  the  district  where  he  lived  would  be  an 
useful  member  of  society :  to  raise  a  thick  turf  on  a  naked  soil 
would  be  worth  volumes  of  systematic  knowledge  ;  and  he  would 
be  the  best  commonwealth's  man  that  could  occasion  the  growth 
of  "  two  blades  of  grass  where  one  alone  was  seen  before  ". 

I  am,  &c. 


LETTER   XLI. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  July  3,  1778. 
DEAR  SIR, 

IN  a  district  so  diversified  with  such  a  variety  of  hill  and  dale, 
aspects,  and  soils,  it  is  no  wonder  that  great  choice  of  plants 

1  [Even  in  White's  day  the  importance  of  a  scientific  knowledge  of  grasses  had 
been  recognised.  Gahn  published  in  the  Amosnitates  Academiccs  (1767),  under  the 
direction  of  Linnaeus,  an  account  of  the  common  grasses,  with  mention  of  the  writers 
who  had  studied  the  order.  The  subject  has  since  received  much  attention.] 


OF  SELBOENE  185 

should  be  found.  Chalks,  clays,  sands,  sheep-walks  and  downs, 
bogs,  heaths,  woodlands,  and  champaign  fields,  cannot  but  furnish 
an  ample  Flora.  The  deep  rocky  lanes  abound  with  Jilices,  and 
the  pastures  and  moist  woods  with  fungi.  If  in  any  branch  of 
botany  we  may  seem  to  be  wanting,  it  must  be  in  the  large 
aquatic  plants,  which  are  not  to  be  expected  on  a  spot  far  removed 
from  rivers,  and  lying  up  amidst  the  hill  country  at  the  spring 
heads.  To  enumerate  all  the  plants  that  have  been  discovered 
within  our  limits  would  be  a  needless  work ;  but  a  short  list  of 
the  more  rare,  and  the  spots  where  they  are  to  be  found,  may  be 
neither  unacceptable  nor  unentertaining  : — 

Helleborus  foetidus,  stinking  hellebore,  bear's  foot,  or  setterwort, 
— all  over  the  High-wood  and  Coney-croft-hanger :  this  continues 
a  great  branching  plant  the  winter  through,  blossoming  about 
January,  and  is  very  ornamental  in  shady  walks  and  shrubberies. 
The  good  women  give  the  leaves  powdered  to  children  troubled 
with  worms  ;  but  it  is  a  violent  remedy,  and  ought  to  be  adminis- 
tered with  caution. 

Helleborus  viridis,  green  hellebore, — in  the  deep  stony  lane  on 
the  left  hand  just  before  the  turning  to  Norton-farm,  and  at  the 
top  of  Middle  Dorton  under  the  hedge :  this  plant  dies  down  to 
the  ground  early  in  autumn,  and  springs  again  about  February, 
flowering  almost  as  soon  as  it  appears  above  ground. 

Vaccinium  oxycoccos,  creeping  bilberries,  or  cranberries, — in  the 
bogs  of  Bins-pond  ; 

Vaccinium  myrtillus,  whortle,  or  bilberries, — on  the  dry  hillocks 
of  Wolmer-forest ; 

Drosera  rotundifolia,  round-leaved  sundew.    |   In  the  bogs  of 

longifolia,      long-leaved  ditto.  )      Bins-pond. 

Comarum  palustre,  purple  comarum,  or  marsh  cinque  foil, — in 
the  bogs  of  Bins-pond ; 

Hypericum  androscemum,  Tutsan,  St.  John's  Wort, — in  the  stony, 
hollow  lanes  ; 

Vinca  minor,  less  periwinkle, — in  Selborne-hanger  and  Shrub- 
wood; 

Monotropa  hypopithys,  yellow  monotropa,  or  bird's  nest, — in 
Selborne-hanger  under  the  shady  beeches,  to  whose  roots  it  seems 
to  be  parasitical — at  the  north-west  end  of  the  Hanger  ; 

Chlora  perfoliata,  Blackstonia  perfoliata,  Hudsoni,  per  foliated 
yellow-wort, — on  the  banks  in  the  Kings-Jield  ; 

Paris  quadrifolia,  herb  Paris,  true-love,  or  one-berry, — in  the 
Church-litten-coppice  ; 


186  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

Chrysosplenium  oppositifolium,  opposite  golden  saxifrage, — in  the 
dark  and  rocky  hollow  lanes  ; 

Gentiana  amarella,  autumnal  gentian,  or  fellwort, — on  the  Zig- 
zag and  Hanger  ; 

Lathrcea  squammaria,  tooth-wort, — in  the  Church-litten-coppice 
under  some  hazels  near  the  foot-bridge,  in  Trimmings  garden- 
hedge,  and  on  the  dry  wall  opposite  Grange-yard  ; 

Dipsacus  pilosus,  small  teasel, — in  the  Short  and  Long  Lith  ; 

Lathyrus  sylvestris,  narrow-leaved,  or  wild  lathyrus, — in  the 
bushes  at  the  foot  of  the  Short  Lith,  near  the  path ; 

Ophrys  spiralis,  ladies  traces, — in  the  Long  Lith,  and  towards 
the  south  corner  of  the  common; 

Ophrys  nidus  avis,  birds'  nest  ophrys, — in  the  Long  Lith  under 
the  shady  beeches  among  the  dead  leaves ;  in  Great  Dorton 
among  the  bushes,  and  on  the  Hanger  plentifully  ; 

Serapias  latifolia,  helleborine, — in  the  High-mood  under  the 
shady  beeches  ; 

Daphne  laureola,  spurge  laurel, — in  Selborne-Hanger  and  the 
High-wood  ; 

Daphne  mezereum,  the  mezereon, — in  Selborne-Hanger  among 
the  shrubs  at  the  south-east  end  above  the  cottages ; 

Lycoperdon  tuber,  truffles, — in  the  Hanger  and  High-wood  ; 

Sambucus  ebulus,  dwarf  elder,  wallwort,  or  danewort, — among 
the  rubbish  and  ruined  foundations  of  the  Priory.1 

Of  all  the  propensities  of  plants  none  seem  more  strange  than 
their  different  periods  of  blossoming.  Some  produce  their  flowers 
in  the  winter,  or  very  first  dawnings  of  spring ;  many  when  the 
spring  is  established ;  some  at  midsummer,  and  some  not  till 
autumn.  When  we  see  the  helleborus  fcetidus  and  helleborus  niger 
blowing  at  Christmas,  the  helleborus  hyemalis^  in  January,  and 
the  helleborus  viridis  as  soon  as  ever  it  emerges  out  of  the  ground, 
we  do  not  wonder,  because  they  are  kindred  plants  that  we 
expect  should  keep  pace  the  one  with  the  other.  But  other 
congenerous  vegetables  differ  so  widely  in  their  time  of  flowering 
that  we  cannot  but  admire.  I  shall  only  instance  at  present  in 
the  crocus  sativus,  the  vernal,  and  the  autumnal  crocus,  which 
have  such  an  affinity,  that  the  best  botanists  only  make  them 
varieties  of  the  same  genus,  of  which  there  is  only  one  species ; 
not  being  able  to  discern  any  difference  in  the  corolla,  or  in  the 

1  [The  rest  of  this  letter  was  given  in  the  original  edition  as  an  appendix,  and 
printed  at  the  end  of  the  Antiquities.] 

2  [The  Eranthis  of  our  gardens.] 


OF  SELBORNE  187 

internal  structure.1  Yet  the  vernal  crocus  expands  it's  flowers  by 
the  beginning  of  March  at  farthest,  and  often  in  very  rigorous 
weather ;  and  cannot  be  retarded  but  by  some  violence  offered  : — 
while  the  autumnal  (the  Saffron)  defies  the  influence  of  the  spring 
and  summer,  and  will  not  blow  till  most  plants  begin  to  fade 
and  run  to  seed.  This  circumstance  is  one  of  the  wonders  of 
the  creation,  little  noticed,  because  a  common  occurrence  :  yet 
ought  not  to  be  overlooked  on  account  of  it's  being  familiar, 
since  it  would  be  as  difficult  to  be  explained  as  the  most  stupen- 
dous phenomenon  in  nature. 

"Say.  what  impels,  amidst  surrounding  snow 
Congeal'd,  the  crocus'  flamy  bud  to  glow  ? 
Say,  what  retards,  amidst  the  summer's  blaze, 
Th'  autumnal  bulb,  till  pale,  declining  days? 
The  GOD  of  SEASONS  ;  whose  pervading  power 
Controls  the  sun,  or  sheds  the  fleecy  shower : 
He  bids  each  flower  his  quick'ning  word  obey ; 
Or  to  each  lingering  bloom  enjoins  delay." 


LETTER  XLII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

"Omnibus  animalibus  reliquis  certus  et  uniusmodi,  et  in  suo  cuique  genere 
"  incessus  est  :  aves  solae  vario  meatu  feruntur,  et  in  terra,  et  in  acre." 

PLIN.,  Hist.  Nat.,  lib.  x.,  cap.  38. 

Selborne,  Aug.  7,  1778. 
DEAR  SIR, 

A  GOOD  ornithologist  should  be  able  to  distinguish  birds  by  their 
air  as  well  as  by  their  colours  and  shape  ;  on  the  ground  as  well 
as  on  the  wing,  and  in  the  bush  as  well  as  in  the  hand.  For, 
though  it  must  not  be  said  that  every  species  of  birds  has  a 
manner  peculiar  to  itself,  yet  there  is  somewhat  in  most  genera 
at  least,  that  at  first  sight  discriminates  them,  and  enables  a 
judicious  observer  to  pronounce  upon  them  with  some  certainty. 
Put  a  bird  in  motion 

" Et  vera  incessu  patuit ." 

1  [White's  vernal  crocus  is  probably  C.  vernus,  and  his  autumnal  crocus  C. 
sativus.  The  inner  spathe  consists  of  two  leaves  in  sativus,  while  it  is  single  and 
tubular  in  vernus.] 


188  THE  NATUEAL  HISTORY 

Thus  kites  and  buzzards  sail  round  in  circles  with  wings  ex- 
panded and  motionless  ;  and  it  is  from  their  gliding  manner  that 
the  former  are  still  called  in  the  north  of  England  gleads,  from 
the  Saxon  verb  glidan,  to  glide.  The  kestrel,  or  wind-hover,  has  a 
peculiar  mode  of  hanging  in  the  air  in  one  place,  his  wings  all 
the  while  being  briskly  agitated.  Hen-harriers  fly  low  over 
heaths  or  fields  of  corn,  and  beat  the  ground  regularly  like  a 
pointer  or  setting- dog.  Owls  move  in  a  buoyant  manner,  as  if 
lighter  than  the  air ;  they  seem  to  want  ballast.  There  is  a 
peculiarity  belonging  to  ravens  that  must  draw  the  attention 
even  of  the  most  incurious — they  spend  all  their  leisure  time 
in  striking  and  cuffing  each  other  on  the  wing  in  a  kind  of 
playful  skirmish ;  and,  when  they  move  from  one  place  to 
another,  frequently  turn  on  their  backs  with  a  loud  croak,  and 
seem  to  be  falling  to  the  ground.  When  this  odd  gesture  betides 
them,  they  are  scratching  themselves  with  one  foot,  and  thus 
lose  the  center  of  gravity.  Rooks  sometimes  dive  and  tumble 
in  a  frolicksome  manner ;  crows  and  daws  swagger  in  their  walk  ; 
wood-peckers  fly  volatu  undoso,  opening  and  closing  their  wings 
at  every  stroke,  and  so  are  always  rising  or  falling  in  curves. 
All  of  this  genus  use  their  tails,  which  incline  downward,  as  a 
support  while  they  run  up  trees.  Parrots,  like  all  other  hooked- 
clawed  birds,  walk  aukwardly,  and  make  use  of  their  bill  as  a 
third  foot,  climbing  and  ascending  with  ridiculous  caution.  All 
the  gallince  parade  and  walk  gracefully,  and  run  nimbly ;  but  fly 
with  difficulty,  with  an  impetuous  whirring,  and  in  a  straight 
line.  Magpies  and  jays  flutter  with  powerless  wings,  and  make 
no  dispatch ;  herons  seem  incumbered  with  too  much  sail  for 
their  light  bodies ;  but  these  vast  hollow  wings  are  necessary 
in  carrying  burdens,  such  as  large  fishes,  and  the  like ;  pigeons, 
and  particularly  the  sort  called  smiters,  have  a  way  of  clashing 
their  wings  the  one  against  the  other  over  their  backs  with  a 
loud  snap ;  another  variety  called  tumblers  turn  themselves  over 
in  the  air.  Some  birds  have  movements  peculiar  to  the  season 
of  love  :  thus  ring-doves,  though  strong  and  rapid  at  other  times, 
yet  in  the  spring  hang  about  on  the  wing  in  a  toying  and  playful 
manner ;  thus  the  cock-snipe,  while  breeding,  forgetting  his  former 
flight,  fans  the  air  like  the  wind-hover  ;  and  the  green-finch  in 
particular  exhibits  such  languishing  and  faultering  gestures  as 
to  appear  like  a  wounded  and  dying  bird ;  the  king- fisher  darts 
along  like  an  arrow;  fern-owls,  or  goat-suckers,  glance  in  the  dusk 
over  the  tops  of  trees  like  a  meteor ;  starlings  as  it  were  swim 


OF  SELBORNE  189 

along,  while  missel-thrushes  use  a  wild  and  desultory  flight ;  swal- 
lows sweep  over  the  surface  of  the  ground  and  water,  and 
distinguish  themselves  by  rapid  turns  and  quick  evolutions ; 
swifts  dash  round  in  circles ;  and  the  bank-martin  moves  with 
frequent  vacillations  like  a  butterfly.  Most  of  the  small  birds 
fly  by  jerks,  rising  and  falling  as  they  advance.  Most  small  birds 
hop  ;  but  wagtails  and  larks  walk,  moving  their  legs  alternately. 
Ski/larks  rise  and  fall  perpendicularly  as  they  sing ;  woodlarks 
hang  poised  in  the  air  ;  and  titlarks  rise  and  fall  in  large  curves, 
singing  in  their  descent.  The  white-throat  uses  odd  jerks  and 
gesticulations  over  the  tops  of  hedges  and  bushes.  All  the 
duck-kind  waddle  ;  divers  and  auks  walk  as  if  fettered,  and  stand 
erect  on  their  tails  :  these  are  the  compedes  of  Linnceus.  Geese 
and  cranes,  and  most  wild-fowls,  move  in  figured  flights,  often 
changing  their  position.  The  secondary  remiges 1  of  Tringce, 
wild-ducks,  and  some  others,  are  very  long,  and  give  their  wings, 
when  in  motion,  an  hooked  appearance.  Dabchicks,  moor-hem, 
and  coots,  fly  erect,  with  their  legs  hanging  down,  and  hardly 
make  any  dispatch ;  the  reason  is  plain,  their  wings  are  placed 
too  forward  out  of  the  true  centre  of  gravity ;  as  the  legs  of  auks 
and  divers  are  situated  too  backward. 


LETTER  XLIII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  Sept.  9,  1778. 
DEAR  SIR, 

FROM  the  motion  of  birds,  the  transition  is  natural  enough  to 
their  notes  and  language,  of  which  I  shall  say  something.  Not 
that  I  would  pretend  to  understand  their  language  like  the 
vizier ;  who,  by  the  recital  of  a  conversation  which  passed 
between  two  owls,  reclaimed  a  sultan,2  before  delighting  in 
conquest  and  devastation ;  but  I  would  be  thought  only  to  mean 
that  many  of  the  winged  tribes  have  various  sounds  and  voices 
adapted  to  express  their  various  passions,  wants,  and  feelings  ; 
such  as  anger,  fear,  love,  hatred,  hunger,  and  the  like.  All 
species  are  not  equally  eloquent ;  some  are  copious  and  fluent 

1  [These  are  the  inner  secondaries,  or  tertials,   as  they  were  formerly  called, 
which  are  long  in  these  birds ;  the  true  secondaries  are  short.] 

2  See  Spectator,  Vol.  vii.,  No.  512. 


190  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

as  it  were  in  their  utterance,  while  others  are  confined  to  a  few 
important  sounds  :  no  bird,  like  the  fish  kind,  is  quite  mute, 
though  some  are  rather  silent.  The  language  of  birds  is  very 
ancient,  and,  like  other  ancient  modes  of  speech,  very  elliptical ; 
little  is  said,  but  much  is  meant  and  understood. 

The  notes  of  the  eagle-kind  are  shrill  and  piercing  ;  and  about 
the  season  of  nidification  much  diversified,  as  I  have  been  often 
assured  by  a  curious  observer  of  Nature,  who  long  resided  at 
Gibraltar,  where  eagles  abound.  The  notes  of  our  hawks  much 
resemble  those  of  the  king  of  birds.  Owls  have  very  expressive 
notes  ;  they  hoot  in  a  fine  vocal  sound,  much  resembling  the  vox 
humana,  and  reducible  by  a  pitch-pipe  to  a  musical  key.  This 
note  seems  to  express  complacency  and  rivalry  among  the  males : 
they  use  also  a  quick  call  and  an  horrible  scream  ;  and  can  snore 
and  hiss  when  they  mean  to  menace.  Ravens,  besides  their  loud 
croak,  can  exert  a  deep  and  solemn  note  that  makes  the  woods 
to  echo  ;  the  amorous  sound  of  a  crow  is  strange  and  ridiculous  ; 
rooks,  in  the  breeding  season,  attempt  sometimes  in  the  gaiety 
of  their  hearts  to  sing,  but  with  no  great  success  ;  the  parrot-kind 
have  many  modulations  of  voice,  as  appears  by  their  aptitude  to 
learn  human  sounds  ;  doves  coo  in  an  amorous  and  mournful 
manner,  and  are  emblems  of  despairing  lovers ;  the  woodpecker 
sets  up  a  sort  of  loud  and  hearty  laugh  ;  the  fern-owl,  or  goat- 
sucker, from  the  dusk  till  day-break,  serenades  his  mate  with  the 
clattering  of  castanets.  All  the  tuneful  passeres  express  their 
complacency  by  sweet  modulations,  and  a  variety  of  melody. 
The  swallow,  as  has  been  observed  in  a  former  letter,  by  a  shrill 
alarm  bespeaks  the  attention  of  the  other  hirundines,  and  bids 
them  be  aware  that  the  hawk  is  at  hand.  Aquatic  and  grega- 
rious birds,  especially  the  nocturnal,  that  shift  their  quarters  in 
the  dark,  are  very  noisy  and  loquacious  ;  as  cranes,  wild-geese, 
wild-ducks,  and  the  like :  their  perpetual  clamour  prevents  them 
from  dispersing  and  losing  their  companions. 

In  so  extensive  a  subject,  sketches  and  outlines  are  as  much  as 
can  be  expected  ;  for  it  would  be  endless  to  instance  in  all  the 
infinite  variety  of  the  feathered  nation.  We  shall  therefore 
confine  the  remainder  of  this  letter  to  the  few  domestic  fowls  of 
our  yards,  which  are  most  known,  and  therefore  best  understood. 
At  first  the  peacock,  with  his  gorgeous  train,  demands  our  atten- 
tion ;  but,  like  most  of  the  gaudy  birds,  his  notes  are  grating  and 
shocking  to  the  ear  :  the  yelling  of  cats,  and  the  braying  of  an 
ass,  are  not  more  disgustful.  The  voice  of  the  goose  is  trumpet- 


OF  SELBORNE  191 

like,  and  clanking  ;  and  once  saved  the  Capitol  at  Rome,  as  grave 
historians  assert  :  the  hiss  also  of  the  gander  is  formidable  and 
full  of  menace,  and  "  protective  of  his  young  ".  Among  ducks  the 
sexual  distinction  of  voice  is  remarkable  ;  for,  while  the  quack  of 
the  female  is  loud  and  sonorous,  the  voice  of  the  drake  is  inward 
and  harsh,  and  feeble,  and  scarce  discernible.  The  cock  turkey 
struts  and  gobbles  to  his  mistress  in  a  most  uncouth  manner  ;  he 
hath  also  a  pert  and  petulant  note  when  he  attacks  his  adversary. 
When  a  hen  turkey  leads  forth  her  young  brood  she  keeps  a 
watchful  eye  ;  and  if  a  bird  of  prey  appear,  though  ever  so  high 
in  the  air,  the  careful  mother  announces  the  enemy  with  a  little 
inward  moan,  and  watches  him  with  a  steady  and  attentive  look  ; 
but,  if  he  approach,  her  note  becomes  earnest  and  alarming,  and 
her  outcries  are  redoubled. 

No  inhabitants  of  a  yard  seem  possessed  of  such  a  variety  of 
expression  and  so  copious  a  language  as  common  poultry.  Take 
a  chicken  of  four  or  five  days  old,  and  hold  it  up  to  a  window 
where  there  are  flies,  and  it  will  immediately  seize  it's  prey,  with 
little  twitterings  of  complacency  ;  but  if  you  tender  it  a  wasp  or 
a  bee,  at  once  it's  note  becomes  harsh,  and  expressive  of  disap- 
probation and  a  sense  of  danger.  When  a  pullet  is  ready  to  lay 
she  intimates  the  event  by  a  joyous  and  easy  soft  note.  Of  all 
the  occurrences  of  their  life  that  of  laying  seems  to  be  the  most 
important ;  for  no  sooner  has  a  hen  disburdened  herself,  than 
she  rushes  forth  with  a  clamorous  kind  of  joy,  which  the  cock 
and  the  rest  of  his  mistresses  immediately  adopt.  The  tumult 
is  not  confined  to  the  family  concerned,  but  catches  from  yard  to 
yard,  and  spreads  to  every  homestead  within  hearing,  till  at  last 
the  whole  village  is  in  an  uproar.  As  soon  as  a  hen  becomes  a 
mother  her  new  relation  demands  a  new  language  ;  she  then  runs 
clocking  and  screaming  about,  and  seems  agitated  as  if  possessed. 
The  father  of  the  flock  has  also  a  considerable  vocabulary ;  if  he 
finds  food,  he  calls  a  favourite  concubine  to  partake  ;  and  if  a 
bird  of  prey  passes  over,  with  a  warning  voice  he  bids  his  family 
beware.  The  gallant  chanticleer  has,  at  command,  his  amorous 
phrases,  and  his  terms  of  defiance.  But  the  sound  by  which  he 
is  best  known  is  his  crowing :  by  this  he  has  been  distinguished 
in  all  ages  as  the  countryman's  clock  or  larum,  as  the  watchman 
that  proclaims  the  divisions  of  the  night.  Thus  the  poet  ele- 
gantly stiles  him  : 

"  —  —  —  the  crested  cock,  whose  clarion  sounds 
"The  silent  hours."  l 

1  [Paradise  Lost,  vii.,  443-44.] 


192  THE  NATUEAL  HISTORY 

A  neighbouring  gentleman  one  summer  had  lost  most  of  his 
chickens  by  a  sparrow-hawk,  that  came  gliding  down  between 
a  faggot  pile  and  the  end  of  his  house  to  the  place  where  the 
coops  stood.  The  owner,  inwardly  vexed  to  see  his  flock  thus 
diminishing,  hung  a  setting  net  adroitly  between  the  pile  and 
the  house,  into  which  the  caitiff  dashed,  and  was  entangled. 
Resentment  suggested  the  law  of  retaliation ;  he  therefore  clipped 
the  hawk's  wings,  cut  off  his  talons,  and,  fixing  a  cork  on  his  bill, 
threw  him  down  among  the  brood-hens.  Imagination  cannot 
paint  the  scene  that  ensued  ;  the  expressions  that  fear,  rage,  and 
revenge,  inspired,  were  new,  or  at  least  such  as  had  been  un- 
noticed before  :  the  exasperated  matrons  upbraided,  they  exe- 
crated, they  insulted,  they  triumphed.  In  a  word,  they  never 
desisted  from  buffeting  their  adversary  till  they  had  torn  him  in 
an  hundred  pieces. 


LETTER    XLIV. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne. 
" monstrent 

"  Quid  tantum  Oceano  properent  se  tingere  soles 
"  Hyberni ;  vel  quas  tardis  mora  noctibus  obstet."  l 

GENTLEMEN  who  have  outlets  2  might  contrive  to  make  ornament 
subservient  to  utility  :  a  pleasing  eye-trap  might  also  contribute 
to  promote  science  :  an  obelisk  in  a  garden  or  park  might  be 
both  an  embellishment  and  an  heliotrope. 

Any  person  that  is  curious,  and  enj  oys  the  advantage  of  a  good 
horizon,  might,  with  little  trouble,  make  two  heliotropes  ;  the  one 
for  the  winter,  the  other  for  the  summer  solstice  :  and  these  two 
erections  might  be  constructed  with  very  little  expense  ;  for  two 
pieces  of  timber  frame-work,  about  ten  or  twelve  feet  high,  and 
four  feet  broad  at  the  base,  and  close  lined  with  plank,  would 
answer  the  purpose. 

The  erection  for  the  former  should,  if  possible,  be  placed  within 
sight  of  some  window  in  the  common  sitting  parlour  ;  because 


1  [Virg.,  Ge 

2  {Outlet  is  ; 


jeorg.,  ii.,  481-82.] 

is  a  favourite  word  with  White  in  his  letters  to  denote  a  garden  or  park 
belonging  to  a  house.     Apparently  the  word  originally  meant  prospect.  ] 


OF  SELBORNE  193 

men,  at  that  dead  season  of  the  year,  are  usually  within  doors 
at  the  close  of  the  day ;  while  that  for  the  latter  might  be  fixed 
for  any  given  spot  in  the  garden  or  outlet :  whence  the  owner 
might  contemplate,  in  a  fine  summer's  evening,  the  utmost  extent 
that  the  sun  makes  to  the  northward  at  the  season  of  the  longest 
days.  Now  nothing  would  be  necessary  but  to  place  these  two 
objects  with  so  much  exactness,  that  the  westerly  limb  of  the  sun, 
at  setting,  might  but  just  clear  the  winter  heliotrope  to  the  west  of 
it  on  the  shortest  day  ;  and  that  the  whole  disc  of  the  sun,  at  the 
longest  day,  might  exactly  at  setting  also  clear  the  summer  helio- 
trope to  the  north  of  it.1 

By  this  simple  expedient  it  would  soon  appear  that  there  is 
no  such  thing,  strictly  speaking,  as  a  solstice  ;  for,  from  the 
shortest  day,  the  owner  would,  every  clear  evening,  see  the  disc 
advancing,  at  it's  setting,  to  the  westward  of  the  object ;  and,  from 
the  longest  day,  observe  the  sun  retiring  backwards  every  evening 
at  it's  setting,  towards  the  object  westward,  till,  in  a  few  nights, 
it  would  set  quite  behind  it,  and  so  by  degrees  to  the  west  of  it : 
for  when  the  sun  comes  near  the  summer  solstice,  the  whole 
disc  of  it  would  at  first  set  behind  the  object ;  after  a  time  the 
northern  limb  would  first  appear,  and  so  every  night  gradually 
more,  till  at  length  the  whole  diameter  would  set  northward  of 
it  for  about  three  nights  ;  but  on  the  middle  night  of  the  three, 
sensibly  more  remote  than  the  former  or  following.  When 
beginning  it's  recess  from  the  summer  tropic,  it  would  continue 
more  and  more  to  be  hidden  every  night,  till  at  length  it  would 
descend  quite  behind  the  object  again ;  and  so  nightly  more  and 
more  to  the  westward. 


1  [No  one,  it  is  likely,  has  ever  made  heliotropes  on  White's  plan.  A  surveying 
or  prismatic  compass,  a  theodolite,  glass  screens  (such  as  windows)  suitably 
marked,  or  two  vertical  rods  temporarily  fixed  in  the  ground,  would  do  as  well  as  an 
ugly  timber  frame.  White  does  not  explain  why  his  winter  heliotrope  is  to  all  but 
hide  the  sun  at  setting,  while  his  summer  heliotrope  is  to  hide  none  of  it.  The 
arrangement  which  is  best  in  one  case  would  also  be  best  in  the  other.] 


13 


194  THE  NATURAL  HISTOKY 

LETTER    XLV. 

TO  THE  SAME. 


Selborne. 


" —    —    —    Mugire  videbis 

"Sub  pedibus  terrain,  et  descendere  montibus  ornos."  l 

WHEN  I  was  a  boy  I  used  to  read,  with  astonishment  and  implicit 
assent,  accounts  in  Bakers  Chronicle  of  walking  hills  and  travelling 
mountains.  John  Philips,  in  his  Cyder,  alludes  to  the  credit  that 
was  given  to  such  stories  with  a  delicate  but  quaint  vein  of 
humour  peculiar  to  the  author  of  the  Splendid  Shilling. 

'  I  nor  advise,  nor  reprehend  the  choice 

'  Of  Marcley  Hill ;  the  apple  no  where  finds 

'  A  kinder  mould  ;  yet  'tis  unsafe  to  trust 

'  Deceitful  ground  :  who  knows  but  that  once  more 

'  This  mount  may  journey,  and  his  present  site 

'  Forsaken,  to  thy  neighbour's  bounds  transfer 

'  Thy  goodly  plants,  affording  matter  strange 

'  For  law  debates ! ' ' 

But,  when  I  came  to  consider  better,  I  began  to  suspect  that 
though  our  hills  may  never  have  journeyed  far,  yet  that  the 
ends  of  many  of  them  have  slipped  and  fallen  away  at  distant 
periods,  leaving  the  cliffs  bare  and  abrupt.  This  seems  to  have 
been  the  case  with  Nore  and  Whetham  Hills  ;  and  especially  with 
the  ridge  between  Harteley  Park  and  Ward  le  ham,  where  the 
ground  has  slid  into  vast  swellings  and  furrows  ;  and  lies  still  in 
such  romantic  confusion  as  cannot  be  accounted  for  from  any 
other  cause.  A  strange  event,  that  happened  not  long  since, 
justifies  our  suspicions  ;  which,  though  it  befell  not  within  the 
limits  of  this  parish,  yet  as  it  was  within  the  hundred  of  Selborne, 
and  as  the  circumstances  were  singular,  may  fairly  claim  a  place 
in  a  work  of  this  nature. 

The  months  of  January  and  Febrtiary,  in  the  year  1774,  were 
remarkable  for  great  melting  snows  and  vast  gluts  of  rain,  so  that 
by  the  end  of  the  latter  month  the  land-springs,  or  lavants,  began 
to  prevail,  and  to  be  near  as  high  as  in  the  memorable  winter  of 
1764-.  The  beginning  o^^March  also  went  on  in  the  same  tenor ; 
when,  in  the  night  between  the  8th  and  9th  of  that  month,  a 

En.,  iv.3  490-91.] 


OF  SELBORNE  195 

considerable  part  of  the  great  woody  hanger  at  Hawkley l  was 
torn  from  it's  place,  and  fell  down,  leaving  a  high  free-stone  cliff 
naked  and  bare,  and  resembling  the  steep  side  of  a  chalk-pit. 
It  appears  that  this  huge  fragment,  being  perhaps  sapped  and 
undermined  by  waters,  foundered,  and  was  engulfed,  going  down 
in  a  perpendicular  direction  ;  for  a  gate  which  stood  in  the  field, 
on  the  top  of  the  hill,  after  sinking  with  it's  posts  for  thirty  or 
forty  feet,  remained  in  so  true  and  upright  a  position  as  to  open 
and  shut  with  great  exactness,  just  as  in  it's  first  situation. 
Several  oaks  also  are  still  standing,  and  in  a  state  of  vegetation, 
after  taking  the  same  desperate  leap.  That  great  part  of  this 
prodigious  mass  was  absorbed  in  some  gulf  below,  is  plain  also 
from  the  inclining  ground  at  the  bottom  of  the  hill,  which  is  free 
and  unincumbered ;  but  would  have  been  buried  in  heaps  of 
rubbish,  had  the  fragment  parted  and  fallen  forward.  About  an 
hundred  yards  from  the  foot  of  this  hanging  coppice  stood  a 
cottage  by  the  side  of  a  lane  ;  and  two  hundred  yards  lower,  on 
the  other  side  of  the  lane,  was  a  farm-house,  in  which  lived  a 
labourer  and  his  family;  and,  just  by,  a  stout  new  barn.  The 
cottage  was  inhabited  by  an  old  woman  and  her  son,  and  his  wife. 
These  people  in  the  evening,  which  was  very  dark  and  tempestu- 
ous, observed  that  the  brick  floors  of  their  kitchens  began  to 
heave  and  part ;  and  that  the  walls  seemed  to  open,  and  the 
roofs  to  crack  :  but  they  all  agree  that  no  tremor  of  the  ground, 
indicating  an  earthquake,  was  ever  felt ;  only  that  the  wind  con- 
tinued to  make  a  most  tremendous  roaring  in  the  woods  and 
hangers.  The  miserable  inhabitants,  not  daring  to  go  to  bed, 
remained  in  the  utmost  solicitude  and  confusion,  expecting  every 
moment  to  be  buried  under  the  ruins  of  their  shattered  edifices. 
When  day-light  came  they  were  at  leisure  to  contemplate  the 
devastations  of  the  night :  they  then  found  that  a  deep  rift,  or 
chasm,  had  opened  under  their  houses,  and  torn  them,  as  it 
were,  in  two ;  and  that  one  end  of  the  barn  had  suffered  in  a 
similar  manner ;  that  a  pond  near  the  cottage  had  undergone  a 
strange  reverse,  becoming  deep  at  the  shallow  end,  and  so  vice 
versa ;  that  many  large  oaks  were  removed  out  of  their  perpen- 
dicular, some  thrown  down,  and  some  fallen  into  the  heads  of 
neighbouring  trees  ;  and  that  a  gate  Mfes  thrust  forward,  with 

1  [Hawkley  is  about  three  miles  south  of  Selborne.  Hawkley  Hanger  had  once 
belonged  to  Gilbert  White's  father. — (Bell.}  Here,  as  between  Hartley  Park  and 
Worldham,  the  freestone  is  underlain  by  the  clay  of  the  gault,  which  has  proved 
an  insufficient  support.] 


196  THE  NATUEAL  HISTOEY 

it's  hedge,  full  six  feet,  so  as  to  require  a  new  track  to  be  made 
to  it.  From  the  foot  of  the  cliff  the  general  course  of  the  ground, 
which  is  pasture,  inclines  in  a  moderate  descent  for  half  a  mile, 
and  is  interspersed  with  some  hillocks,  which  were  rifted,  in 
every  direction,  as  well  towards  the  great  woody  hanger,  as  from 
it.  In  the  first  pasture  the  deep  clefts  began  ;  and  running  across 
the  lane,  and  under  the  buildings,  made  such  vast  shelves  that 
the  road  was  impassable  for  some  time  ;  and  so  over  to  an  arable 
field  on  the  other  side,  which  was  strangely  torn  and  disordered. 
The  second  pasture  field,  being  more  soft  and  springy,  was  pro- 
truded forward  without  many  fissures  in  the  turf,  which  was 
raised  in  long  ridges  resembling  graves,  lying  at  right  angles  to 
the  motion.  At  the  bottom  of  this  enclosure  the  soil  and  turf 
rose  many  feet  against  the  bodies  of  some  oaks  that  obstructed 
their  farther  course  and  terminated  this  awful  commotion. 

The  perpendicular  height  of  the  precipice,  in  general,  is 
twenty- three  yards ;  the  length  of  the  lapse,  or  slip,  as  seen 
from  the  fields  below,  one  hundred  and  eighty-one  ;  and  a  partial 
fall,  concealed  in  the  coppice,  extends  seventy  yards  more :  so 
that  the  total  length  of  this  fragment  that  fell  was  two  hundred 
and  fifty-one  yards.  About  fifty  acres  of  land  suffered  from  this 
violent  convulsion ;  two  houses  were  entirely  destroyed ;  one 
end  of  a  new  barn  was  left  in  ruins,  the  walls  being  cracked 
through  the  very  stones  that  composed  them ;  a  hanging  coppice 
was  changed  to  a  naked  rock;  and  some  grass  grounds  and  an 
arable  field  so  broken  and  rifted  by  the  chasms  as  to  be  rendered, 
for  a  time,  neither  fit  for  the  plough  or  safe  for  pasturage,  till 
considerable  labour  and  expense  had  been  bestowed  in  levelling 
the  surface  and  filling  in  the  gaping  fissures. 


LETTER   XLVI. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selbornc. 
" resonant  arbusta " 

THERE  is  a  steep  abrupt  pasture  field  interspersed  with  furze 
close  to  the  back  of  this  village,  well  known  by  the  name  of  the 
Short  Lithe,  consisting  of  a  rocky  dry  soil,  and  inclining  to  the 
afternoon  sun.  This  spot  abounds  with  the  gryllus  campestris,  or 


OF  SELBORNE  197 

Jield-cricket ;  which,  though   frequent  in  these   parts,  is   by  no 
means  a  common  insect  in  many  other  counties. 

As  their  cheerful  summer  cry  cannot  but  draw  the  attention  of 
a  naturalist,  I  have  often  gone  down  to  examine  the  oeconomy  of 
these  grylli,  and  study  their  mode  of  life  :  but  they  are  so  shy 
and  cautious  that  it  is  no  easy  matter  to  get  a  sight  of  them  ;  for, 
feeling  a  person's  footsteps  as  he  advances,  they  stop  short  in 
the  midst  of  their  song,  and  retire  backward  nimbly  into  their 
burrows,  where  they  lurk  till  all  suspicion  of  danger  is  over. 

At  first  we  attempted  to  dip  them  out  with  a  spade,  but  without 
any  great  success  ;  for  either  we  could  not  get  to  the  bottom  of 
the  hole,  which  often  terminated  under  a  great  stone ;  or  else, 
in  breaking  up  the  ground,  we  inadvertently  squeezed  the  poor 
insect  to  death.  Out  of  one  so  bruised  we  took  a  multitude  of 
eggs,  which  were  long  and  narrow,  of  a  yellow  colour,  and  covered 
with  a  very  tough  skin.  By  this  accident  we  learned  to  distinguish 
the  male  from  the  female  ;  the  former  of  which  is  shining  black, 
with  a  golden  stripe  across  his  shoulders  ;  the  latter  is  more  dusky, 
more  capacious  about  the  abdomen,  and  carries  a  long  sword- 
shaped  weapon  at  her  tail,  which  probably  is  the  instrument  with 
which  she  deposits  her  eggs  in  crannies  and  safe  receptacles. 

Where  violent  methods  will  not  avail,  more  gentle  means  will 
often  succeed  ;  and  so  it  proved  in  the  present  case ;  for,  though 
a  spade  be  too  boisterous  and  rough  an  implement,-  a  pliant  stalk 
of  grass,  gently  insinuated  into  the  caverns,  will  probe  their 
windings  to  the  bottom,  and  quickly  bring  out  the  inhabitant ; 
and  thus  the  humane  inquirer  may  gratify  his  curiosity  without 
injuring  the  object  of  it.  It  is  remarkable  that,  though  these 
insects  are  furnished  with  long  legs  behind,  and  brawny  thighs 
for  leaping,  like  grasshoppers ;  yet  when  driven  from  their  holes 
they  show  no  activity,  but  crawl  along  in  a  shiftless  manner,  so 
as  easily  to  be  taken  :  and  again,  though  provided  with  a  curious 
apparatus  of  wings,  yet  they  never  exert  them  when  there  seems 
to  be  the  greatest  occasion.  The  males  only  make  that  shrilling 
noise  perhaps  out  of  rivalry  and  emulation,  as  is  the  case  with 
many  animals  which  exert  some  sprightly  note  during  their 
breeding  time  :  it  is  raised  by  a  brisk  friction  of  one  wing  against 
the  other.  They  are  solitary  beings,  living  singly  male  or  female, 
each  as  it  may  happen ;  but  there  must  be  a  time  when  the  sexes 
have  some  intercourse,  and  then  the  wings  may  be  useful  perhaps 
during  the  hours  of  night.  When  the  males  meet  they  will  fight 
fiercely,  as  I  found  by  some  which  I  put  into  the  crevices  of  a  dry 


198  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

stone  wall,  where  I  should  have  been  glad  to  have  made  them 
settle.  For  though  they  seemed  distressed  by  being  taken  out 
of  their  knowledge,  yet  the  first  that  got  possession  of  the  chinks 
would  seize  on  any  that  were  obtruded  upon  them  with  a  vast 
row  of  serrated  fangs.  With  their  strong  jaws,  toothed  like  the 
shears  of  a  lobster's  claws,  they  perforate  and  round  their  curious 
regular  cells,  having  no  fore-claws  to  dig,  like  the  mole-cricket. 
When  taken  in  hand  I  could  not  but  wonder  that  they  never 
offered  to  defend  themselves,  though  armed  with  such  formidable 
weapons.  Of  such  herbs  as  grow  before  the  mouths  of  their 
burrows  they  eat  indiscriminately  ;  and  on  a  little  platform, 
which  they  make  just  by,  they  drop  their  dung ;  and  never,  in 
the  day  time,  seem  to  stir  more  than  two  or  three  inches  from 
home.  Sitting  in  the  entrance  of  their  caverns  they  chirp  all 
night  as  well  as  day  from  the  middle  of  the  month  of  May  to 
the  middle  of  July ;  and  in  hot  weather,  when  they  are  most 
vigorous,  they  make  the  hills  echo  ;  and,  in  the  stiller  hours  of 
darkness,  may  be  heard  to  a  considerable  distance.  In  the 
beginning  of  the  season  their  notes  are  more  faint  and  inward ; 
but  become  louder  as  the  summer  advances,  and  so  die  away 
again  by  degrees. 

Sounds  do  not  always  give  us  pleasure  according  to  their  sweet- 
ness and  melody  ;  nor  do  harsh  sounds  always  displease.  We  are 
more  apt  to  be  captivated  or  disgusted  with  the  associations  which 
they  promote,  than  with  the  notes  themselves.  Thus  the  shrilling 
of  the  ^eld-cricket,  though  sharp  and  stridulous,  yet  marvellously 
delights  some  hearers,  filling  their  minds  with  a  train  of  summer 
ideas  of  every  thing  that  is  rural,  verdurous,  and  joyous. 

About  the  tenth  of  March  the  crickets  appear  at  the  mouths 
of  their  cells,  which  they  then  open  and  bore,  and  shape  very 
elegantly.  All  that  ever  I  have  seen  at  that  season  were  in  their 
pupa  state,  and  had  only  the  rudiments  of  wings,  lying  under  a 
skin  or  coat,  which  must  be  cast  before  the  insect  can  arrive  at 
it's  perfect  state ;  *  from  whence  I  should  suppose  that  the  old 
ones  of  last  year  do  not  always  survive  the  winter.  In  August 
their  holes  begin  to  be  obliterated,  and  the  insects  are  seen  no 
more  till  spring. 

Not  many  summers  ago  I  endeavoured  to  transplant  a  colony 
to  the  terrace  in  my  garden,  by  boring  deep  holes  in  the  sloping 

1  We  have  observed  that  they  cast  these  skins  in  April,  which  are  then  seen 
lying  at  the  mouths  of  their  holes. 


OF  SELBOENE  199 

turf.  The  new  inhabitants  stayed  some  time,  and  fed  and  sung ; 
but  wandered  away  by  degrees,  and  were  heard  at  a  farther  dis- 
tance every  morning ;  so  that  it  appears  that  on  this  emergency 
they  made  use  of  their  wings  in  attempting  to  return  to  the  spot 
from  which  they  were  taken. 

One  of  these  crickets,  when  confined  in  a  paper  cage  and  set 
in  the  sun,  and  supplied  with  plants  moistened  with  water,  will 
feed  and  thrive,  and  become  so  merry  and  loud  as  to  be  irksome 
in  the  same  room  where  a  person  is  sitting :  if  the  plants  are  not 
wetted  it  will  die. 


LETTER  XLVII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne. 
DEAR  SIR, 

' '  Far  from  all  resort  of  mirth 

"  Save  the  cricket  on  the  hearth."  MILTON'S  //  Penseroso. 

WHILE  many  other  insects  must  be  sought  after  in  fields  and 
woods,  and  waters,  the  gryllus  domesticus,  or  house-cricket,  resides 
altogether  within  our  dwellings,  intruding  itself  upon  our  notice 
whether  we  will  or  no.  This  species  delights  in  new-built  houses, 
being,  like  the  spider,  pleased  with  the  moisture  of  the  walls ; 
and  besides,  the  softness  of  the  mortar  enables  them  to  burrow 
and  mine  between  the  joints  of  the  bricks  or  stones,  and  to  open 
communications  from  one  room  to  another.  They  are  particularly 
fond  of  kitchens  and  bakers'  ovens,  on  account  of  their  perpetual 
warmth. 

Tender  insects  that  live  abroad  either  enjoy  only  the  short 
period  of  one  summer,  or  else  doze  away  the  cold  uncomfortable 
months  in  profound  slumbers ;  but  these,  residing  as  it  were  in 
a  torrid  zone,  are  always  alert  and  merry  :  a  good  Christmas  fire 
is  to  them  like  the  heats  of  the  dog-days.  Though  they  are 
frequently  heard  by  day,  yet  is  their  natural  time  of  motion  only 
in  the  night.  As  soon  as  it  grows  dusk,  the  chirping  increases, 
and  they  come  running  forth,  and  are  from  the  size  of  a  flea  to 
that  of  their  full  stature.  As  one  should  suppose,  from  the  burn- 
ing atmosphere  which  they  inhabit,  they  are  a  thirsty  race,  and 
show  a  great  propensity  for  liquids,  being  found  frequently  drowned 


200  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

in  pans  of  water,  milk,  broth,  or  the  like.  Whatever  is  moist 
they  affect  :  and  therefore  often  gnaw  holes  in  wet  woollen 
stockings  and  aprons  that  are  hung  to  the  fire :  they  are  the 
housewife's  barometer,  foretelling  her  when  it  will  rain ;  and  are 
prognostic  sometimes,  she  thinks,  of  ill  or  good  luck ;  of  the 
death  of  a  near  relation,  or  the  approach  of  an  absent  lover.  By 
being  the  constant  companions  of  her  solitary  hours  they  naturally 
become  the  objects  of  her  superstition.  These  crickets  are  not 
only  very  thirsty,  but  very  voracious ;  for  they  will  eat  the 
scummings  of  pots,  and  yeast,  salt,  and  crumbs  of  bread ;  and 
any  kitchen  offal  or  sweepings.  In  the  summer  we  have  observed 
them  to  fly,  when  it  became  dusk,  out  of  the  windows,  and  over 
the  neighbouring  roofs.  This  feat  of  activity  accounts  for  the 
sudden  manner  in  which  they  often  leave  their  haunts,  as  it  does 
for  the  method  by  which  they  come  to  houses  where  they  were 
not  known  before.  It  is  remarkable,  that  many  sorts  of  insects 
seem  never  to  use  their  wings  but  when  they  have  a  mind  to 
shift  their  quarters  and  settle  new  colonies.  When  in  the  air 
they  move  "volatu  undoso,"  in  waves  or  curves,  like  wood-peckers, 
opening  and  shutting  their  wings  at  every  stroke,  and  so  are 
always  rising  or  sinking. 

When  they  increase  to  a  great  degree,  as  they  did  once  in  the 
house  where  I  am  now  writing,  they  become  noisome  pests,  flying 
into  the  candles,  and  dashing  into  people's  faces ;  but  may  be 
blasted  and  destroyed  by  gunpowder  discharged  into  their  crevices 
and  crannies.  In  families,  at  such  times,  they  are,  like  Pharaoh's 
plague  of  frogs, — "in  their  bed-chambers,  and  upon  their  beds, 
"and  in  their  ovens,  and  in  their  kneading- troughs  ".l  Their 
shrilling  noise  is  occasioned  by  a  brisk  attrition  of  their  wings. 
Cats  catch  hearth-crickets,  and,  playing  with  them  as  they  do 
with  mice,  devour  them.  Crickets  may  be  destroyed,  like  wasps, 
by  phials  half  filled  with  beer,  or  any  liquid,  and  set  in  their 
haunts ;  for,  being  always  eager  to  drink,  they  will  crowd  in  till 
the  bottles  are  full. 


1  Exod.  viii.  3. 


OF  SELBORNE  201 

LETTER  XLVIII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne. 

How  diversified  are  the  modes  of  life  not  only  of  incongruous 
but  even  of  congenerous  animals ;  and  yet  their  specific  distinc- 
tions are  not  more  various  than  their  propensities.  Thus,  while 
the  ^eld-cricket  delights  in  sunny  dry  banks,  and  the  house-cricket 
rejoices  amidst  the  glowing  heat  of  the  kitchen  hearth  or  oven, 
the  gnjllus  gn/l/o  talpa  (the  mole-cricket)  haunts  moist  meadows, 
and  frequents  the  sides  of  ponds  and  banks  of  streams,  performing 
all  it's  functions  in  a  swampy  wet  soil.  With  a  pair  of  fore-feet, 
curiously  adapted  to  the  purpose,  it  burrows  and  works  under 
ground  like  the  mole,  raising  a  ridge  as  it  proceeds,  but  seldom 
throwing  up  hillocks. 

As  mole-crickets  often  infest  gardens  by  the  sides  of  canals, 
they  are  unwelcome  guests  to  the  gardener,  raising  up  ridges  in 
their  subterraneous  progress,  and  rendering  the  walks  unsightly. 
If  they  take  to  the  kitchen  quarters,  they  occasion  great  damage 
among  the  plants  and  roots,  by  destroying  whole  beds  of  cabbages, 
young  legumes,  and  flowers.  When  dug  out  they  seem  very  slow 
and  helpless,  and  make  no  use  of  their  wings  by  day ;  but  at 
night  they  come  abroad,  and  make  long  excursions,  as  I  have 
been  convinced  by  finding  stragglers,  in  a  morning,  in  improbable 
places.  In  fine  weather,  about  the  middle  of  April,  and  just  at 
the  close  of  day,  they  begin  to  solace  themselves  with  a  low, 
dull,  jarring  note,  continued  for  a  long  time  without  interruption, 
and  not  unlike  the  chattering  of  the  fern-owl,  or  goat-sucker,  but 
more  inward. 

About  the  beginning  of  May  they  lay  their  eggs,  as  I  was 
once  an  eye-witness :  for  a  gardener  at  an  house,  where  I  was 
on  a  visit,  happening  to  be  mowing,  on  the  6th  of  that  month, 
by  the  side  of  a  canal,  his  scythe  struck  too  deep,  pared  off  a 
large  piece  of  turf,  and  laid  open  to  view  a  curious  scene  of 
domestic  oeconomy  : 

" ingentem  lato  dedit  ore  fenestram  : 

"  Apparet  domus  intus,  et  atria  longa  patescunt : 
"  Apparent penetralia."  l 

a[Virg.,  s£n.,  ii.,  482-84.] 


202  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

There  were  many  caverns  and  winding  passages  leading  to  a 
kind  of  chamber,  neatly  smoothed  and  rounded,  and  about  the 
size  of  a  moderate  snuff-box.  Within  this  secret  nursery  were 
deposited  near  an  hundred  eggs  of  a  dirty  yellow  colour,  and 
enveloped  in  a  tough  skin,  but  too  lately  excluded  to  contain 
any  rudiments  of  young,  being  full  of  a  viscous  substance.  The 
eggs  lay  but  shallow,  and  within  the  influence  of  the  sun,  just 
under  a  little  heap  of  fresh-moved  mould,  like  that  which  is 
raised  by  ants. 

When  mole-crickets  fly  they  move  "  cursu  undoso,"  rising  and 
falling  in  curves,  like  the  other  species  mentioned  before.  In 
different  parts  of  this  kingdom  people  call  them  Jen-crickets,  churr- 
rvorms,  and  eve-churrs,  all  very  apposite  names. 

Anatomists,  who  have  examined  the  intestines  of  these  insects, 
astonish  me  with  their  accounts ;  for  they  say  that,  from  the 
structure,  position,  and  number  of  their  stomachs,  or  maws,  there 
seems  to  be  good  reason  to  suppose  that  this  and  the  two  former 
species  ruminate  or  chew  the  cud  like  many  quadrupeds  ! 1 


LETTER  XLIX. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

Selborne,  May  7,  1779. 

IT  is  now  more  than  forty  years  that  I  have  paid  some  attention 
to  the  ornithology  of  this  district,  without  being  able  to  exhaust 
the  subject :  new  occurrences  still  arise  as  long  as  any  inquiries 
are  kept  alive. 

In  the  last  week  of  last  month  five  of  those  most  rare  birds, 
too  uncommon  to  have  obtained  an  English  name,  but  known  to 
naturalists  by  the  terms  of  himantopus,  or  loripes,  and  charadrius 
himantopus?  were  shot  upon  the  verge  of  Frinskam-pond,  a  large 
lake  belonging  to  the  bishop  of  Winchester,  and  lying  between 
Wolmer-forest,  and  the  town  of  Farnham,  in  the  county  of  Surrey. 
The  pond  keeper  says  there  were  three  brace  in  the  flock ;  but 
that,  after  he  had  satisfied  his  curiosity,  he  suffered  the  sixth  to 
remain  unmolested.  One  of  these  specimens  I  procured,  and 

1[The  only  foundation  for  the  supposition  that  crickets  and  mole-crickets 
ruminate  is  that,  like  many  other  insects,  they  have  a  gizzard,  set  with  hard  ridges 
or  teeth,  behind  the  crop.] 

2  [The  black- winged  stilt,  an  uncommon  visitor  to  this  country.] 


OF  SELBORNE  203 

found  the  length  of  the  legs  to  be  so  extraordinary,  that,  at  first 
sight,  one  might  have  supposed  the  shanks  had  been  fastened 
on  to  impose  on  the  credulity  of  the  beholder  :  they  were  legs 
in  caricatura  ;  and  had  we  seen  such  proportions  on  a  Chinese  or 
Japan  screen  we  should  have  made  large  allowances  for  the  fancy 
of  the  draughtsman.  These  birds  are  of  the  plover  family,  and 
might  with  propriety  be  called  the  stilt  plovers.  Brisson,  under 
that  idea,  gives  them  the  apposite  name  of  I'echasse.  My  speci- 
men, when  drawn  and  stuffed  with  pepper,  weighed  only  four 
ounces  and  a  quarter,  though  the  naked  part  of  the  thigh 
measured  three  inches  and  an  half,  and  the  legs  four  inches  and 
an  half.  Hence  we  may  safely  assert  that  these  birds  exhibit, 
weight  for  inches,  incomparably  the  greatest  length  of  legs  of 
any  known  bird.  The  flamingo,  for  instance,  is  one  of  the  most 
long  legged  birds,  and  yet  it  bears  no  manner  of  proportion  to 
the  hirnantopus  ;  for  a  cock  flamingo  weighs,  at  an  average,  about 
four  pounds  avoirdupois  ;  and  his  legs  and  thighs  measure  usually 
about  twenty  inches.  But  four  pounds  are  fifteen  times  and  a 
fraction  more  than  four  ounces  and  one  quarter ;  and  if  four 
ounces  and  a  quarter  have  eight  inches  of  legs,  four  pounds  must 
have  one  hundred  and  twenty  inches  and  a  fraction  of  legs ;  viz. 
somewhat  more  than  ten  feet ;  such  a  monstrous  proportion  as 
the  world  never  saw  !  l  If  you  should  try  the  experiment  in 
still  larger  birds  the  disparity  would  still  increase.  It  must  be 
matter  of  great  curiosity  to  see  the  stilt  plover  move  ;  to  observe 
how  it  can  wield  such  a  length  of  lever  with  such  feeble  muscles 
as  the  thighs  seem  to  be  furnished  with.  At  best  one  should 
expect  it  to  be  but  a  bad  walker :  but  what  adds  to  the  wonder 
is  that  it  has  no  back  toe.  Now  without  that  steady  prop  to 
support  it's  steps  it  must  be  liable,  in  speculation,  to  perpetual 
vacillations,  and  seldom  able  to  preserve  the  true  center  of 
gravity. 

The  old  name  of  himantopus  is  taken  from  Pliny  ;  and,  by  an 
aukward  metaphor,  implies  that  the  legs  are  as  slender  and 
pliant  as  if  cut  out  of  a  thong  of  leather.  Neither  Willughby  nor 
Ray,  in  all  their  curious  researches,  either  at  home  or  abroad, 
ever  saw  this  bird.  Mr.  Pennant  never  met  with  it  in  all  Great- 
Britain,  but  observed  it  often  in  the  cabinets  of  the  curious  at 
Paris.  Hasselquist  says  that  it  migrates  to  Egypt  in  the  autumn  : 

1  [There  is  an  obvious  miscalculation  here,  corrected  in  Bell's  edition.  The 
weight  of  similar  structures  varies  as  the  cube  of  corresponding  linear  dimensions  ; 
White's  comparison  implies  that  it  varies  directly.] 


204  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

and  a  most  accurate  observer  of  Nature  has  assured  me  that  he 
has  found  it  on  the  banks  of  the  streams  in  Andalusia. 

Our  writers  record  it  to  have  been  found  only  twice  in  Great 
Britain.  From  all  these  relations  it  plainly  appears  that  these 
long  legged  plovers  are  birds  of  South  Europe,  and  rarely  visit  our 
island ;  and  when  they  do  are  wanderers  and  stragglers,  and 
impelled  to  make  so  distant  and  northern  an  excursion  from 
motives  or  accidents  for  which  we  are  not  able  to  account.  One 
thing  may  fairly  be  deduced,  that  these  birds  come  over  to  us 
from  the  continent,  since  nobody  can  suppose  that  a  species  not 
noticed  once  in  an  age,  and  of  such  a  remarkable  make,  can 
constantly  breed  unobserved  in  this  kingdom. 


LETTER  L. 

TO   THE    SAME. 

Selborne,  April  21,  1780. 
DEAR  SIR, 

THE  old  Sussex  tortoise,1  that  I  have  mentioned  to  you  so  often, 
is  become  my  property.  I  dug  it  out  of  it's  winter  dormitory  in 
March  last,  when  it  was  enough  wakened  to  express  it's  resent- 
ments by  hissing ;  and,  packing  it  in  a  box  with  earth,  carried  it 
eighty  miles  in  post-chaises.  The  rattle  and  hurry  of  the  journey 
so  perfectly  roused  it  that,  when  I  turned  it  out  on  a  border,  it 
walked  twice  down  to  the  bottom  of  my  garden ;  however,  in 
the  evening,  the  weather  being  cold,  it  buried  itself  in  the  loose 
mould,  and  continues  still  concealed. 

As  it  will  be  under  my  eye,  I  shall  now  have  an  opportunity 
of  enlarging  my  observations  on  it's  mode  of  life,  and  propensi- 
ties ;  and  perceive  already  that,  towards  the  time  of  coming 
forth,  it  opens  a  breathing  place  in  the  ground  near  it's  head, 
requiring,  I  conclude,  a  freer  respiration,  as  it  becomes  more 
alive.  This  creature  not  only  goes  under  the  earth  from  the 
middle  of  November  to  the  middle  of  April,  but  sleeps  great  part 
of  the  summer  ;  for  it  goes  to  bed  in  the  longest  days  at  four  in 
the  afternoon,  and  often  does  not  stir  in  the  morning  till  late. 
Besides,  it  retires  to  rest  for  every  shower  ;  and  does  not  move 
at  all  in  wet  days. 

1  [See  Letters  VII.  and  XIII.  to  Harrington.] 


OF  SELBORNE  205 

When  one  reflects  on  the  state  of  this  strange  being,  it  is  a 
matter  of  wonder  to  find  that  Providence  should  bestow  such  a 
profusion  of  days,  such  a  seeming  waste  of  longevity,  on  a  reptile 
that  appears  to  relish  it  so  little  as  to  squander  more  than  two 
thirds  of  it's  existence  in  a  joyless  stupor,  and  be  lost  to  all 
sensation  for  months  together  in  the  profoundest  of  slumbers. 

While  I  was  writing  this  letter,  a  moist  and  warm  afternoon, 
with  the  thermometer  at  50,  brought  forth  troops  of  shell-snath  ; 
and,  at  the  same  juncture,  the  tortoise  heaved  up  the  mould,  and 
put  out  it's  head  ;  and  the  next  morning  came  forth,  as  it  were 
raised  from  the  dead  ;  and  walked  about  till  four  in  the  after 
noon.  This  was  a  curious  coincidence  !  a  very  amusing  occur- 
rence !  to  see  such  a  similarity  of  feelings  between  the  two 
(beptoiKOL !  for  so  the  Greeks  call  both  the  shell-snail  and  the  tortoise. 

Summer  birds  are,  this  cold  and  backward  spring,  unusually 
late  :  I  have  seen  but  one  swallow  yet.  This  conformity  with 
the  weather  convinces  me  more  and  more  that  they  sleep  in  the 
winter. 

More  PARTICULARS  respecting  the  OLD  FAMILY  TORTOISE,  omitted  in 
the  Natural  History.1 

Because  we  call  this  creature  an  abject  reptile,  we  are  too 
apt  to  undervalue  his  abilities,  and  depreciate  his  powers  of 
instinct.  Yet  he  is,  as  Mr.  Pope  says  of  his  lord, 

" Much  too  wise  to  walk  into  a  well :  " 

and  has  so  much  discernment  as  not  to  fall  down  an  haha ;  but 
to  stop  and  withdraw  from  the  brink  with  the  readiest  precaution. 

Though  he  loves  warm  weather  he  avoids  the  hot  sun  ;  be- 
cause his  thick  shell,  when  once  heated,  would,  as  the  poet  says 
of  solid  armour — "scald  with  safety".  He  therefore  spends  the 
more  sultry  hours  under  the  umbrella  of  a  large  cabbage-leaf,  or 
amidst  the  waving  forests  of  an  asparagus-bed. 

But  as  he  avoids  heat  in  the  summer,  so,  in  the  decline  of  the 
year,  he  improves  the  faint  autumnal  beams,  by  getting  within 
the  reflection  of  a  fruit-wall :  and,  though  he  never  has  read  that 
planes  inclining  to  the  horizon  receive  a  greater  share  of  warmth,2 

1  [In  the  original  edition  this  passage  was  printed  at  the  end  of  the  Antiquities.] 

2  Several  years  ago  a  book  was  written  entitled  "  Fruit-walls  improved  by  ir.clin- 
"  ing  them  to  the  horizon  "  :  in  which  the  author  has  shewn,  by  calculation,  that  a 
much  greater  number  of  the  rays  of  the  sun  will  fall  on  such  walls  than  on  those 
which  are  perpendicular. 


206  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

he  inclines  his  shell,  by  tilting  it  against  the  wall,  to  collect  and 
admit  every  feeble  ray. 

Pitiable  seems  the  condition  of  this  poor  embarrassed  reptile  : 
to  be  cased  in  a  suit  of  ponderous  armour,  which  he  cannot  lay 
aside  ;  to  be  imprisoned,  as  it  were,  within  his  own  shell,  must 
preclude,  we  should  suppose,  all  activity  and  disposition  for  enter- 
prize.  Yet  there  is  a  season  of  the  year  (usually  the  beginning 
of  June)  when  his  exertions  are.  remarkable.  He  then  walks  on 
tiptoe,  and  is  stirring  by  five  in  the  morning  ;  and,  traversing  the 
garden,  examines  every  wicket  and  interstice  in  the  fences, 
through  which  he  will  escape  if  possible :  and  often  has  eluded 
the  care  of  the  gardener,  and  wandered  to  some  distant  field. 
The  motives  that  impel  him  to  undertake  these  rambles  seem  to 
be  of  the  amorous  kind  :  his  fancy  then  becomes  intent  on  sexual 
attachments,  which  transport  him  beyond  his  usual  gravity,  and 
induce  him  to  forget  for  a  time  his  ordinary  solemn  deportment. 


LETTER  LI. 

TO    THE   SAME. 

Selborne,  Sept.  3,  1781. 

I  HAVE  now  read  your  miscellanies  through  with  much  care  and 
satisfaction ;  and  am  to  return  you  my  best  thanks  for  the 
honourable  mention  made  in  them  of  me  as  a  naturalist,  which 
I  wish  I  may  deserve. 

In  some  former  letters  I  expressed  my  suspicions  that  many 
of  the  house-martins  do  not  depart  in  the  winter  far  from  this 
village.  I  therefore  determined  to  make  some  search  about  the 
south-east  end  of  the  hill,  where  I  imagined  they  might  slumber 
out  the  uncomfortable  months  of  winter.  But  supposing  that 
the  examination  would  be  made  to  the  best  advantage  in  the 
spring,  and  observing  that  no  martins  had  appeared  by  the  llth 
of  April  last ;  on  that  day  I  employed  some  men  to  explore  the 
shrubs  and  cavities  of  the  suspected  spot.  The  persons  took 
pains,  but  without  any  success  :  however,  a  remarkable  incident 
occurred  in  the  midst  of  our  pursuit — while  the  labourers  were 
at  work  a  house-martin,  the  first  that  had  been  seen  this  year, 
came  down  the  village  in  the  sight  of  several  people,  and  went 
at  once  into  a  nest,  where  it  stayed  a  short  time,  and  then  flew 
over  the  houses  ;  for  some  days  after  no  martins  were  observed, 


OF  SELBORNE  207 

not  till  the    l6th   of  Aprily  and  then  only  a  pair.     Martins  in 
general  were  remarkably  late  this  year. 


LETTER    LII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 


Selborne,  Sept.  9,  1781. 


I  HAVE  just  met  with  a  circumstance  respecting  swifts,  which 
furnishes  an  exception  to  the  whole  tenor  of  my  observations 
ever  since  I  have  bestowed  any  attention  on  that  species  of 
hirundines.  Our  swifts,  in  general,  withdrew  this  year  about 
the  first  day  of  August,  all  save  one  pair,  which  in  two  or  three 
days  was  reduced  to  a  single  bird.  The  perseverance  of  this 
individual  made  me  suspect  that  the  strongest  of  motives,  that 
of  an  attachment  to  her  young,  could  alone  occasion  so  late  a  stay. 
I  watched  therefore  till  the  twenty-fourth  of  August,  and  then 
discovered  that,  under  the  eaves  of  the  church,  she  attended  upon 
two  young,  which  were  fledged,  and  now  put  out  their  white 
chins  from  a  crevice.  These  remained  till  the  twenty-seventh, 
looking  more  alert  every  day,  and  seeming  to  long  to  be  on  the 
wing.  After  this  day  they  were  missing  at  once  ;  nor  could  I 
ever  observe  them  with  their  dam  coursing  round  the  church  in 
the  act  of  learning  to  fly,  as  the  first  broods  evidently  do.  On 
the  thirty-first  I  caused  the  eaves  to  be  searched,  but  we  found 
in  the  nest  only  two  callow,  dead,  stinking  swifts,  on  which  a 
second  nest  had  been  formed.  This  double  nest  was  full  of  the 
black  shining  cases  of  the  hippoboscce  hirundinis. 

The  following  remarks  on  this  unusual  incident  are  obvious. 
The  first  is,  that  though  it  may  be  disagreeable  to  swifts  to 
remain  beyond  the  beginning  of  August,  yet  that  they  can  subsist 
longer  is  undeniable.1  The  second  is,  that  this  uncommon  event, 
as  it  was  owing  to  the  loss  of  the  first  brood,  so  it  corroborates 
my  former  remark,  that  swifts  breed  regularly  but  once  ;  since, 
was  the  contrary  the  case,  the  occurrence  above  could  neither  be 
new  nor  rare. 

P.S.  One  swift  was  seen  at  Lyndon,  in  the  county  of  Rutland, 
in  1782,  so  late  as  the  third  of  September. 

1  [It  was  a  mere  accident  that  White  had  seen  no  swifts  later  than  the  first  week 
in  August.  They  may  be  seen  now  and  then  all  through  August,  and  even  in 
September,  especially  in  the  south.] 


208  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

LETTER  LIII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

As  I  have  sometimes  known  you  make  inquiries  about  several 
kinds  of  insects,  I  shall  here  send  you  an  account  of  one  sort 
which  I  little  expected  to  have  found  in  this  kingdom.  I  had 
often  observed  that  one  particular  part  of  a  vine  growing  on  the 
walls  of  my  house  was  covered  in  the  autumn  with  a  black  dust- 
like  appearance,  on  which  the  flies  fed  eagerly ;  and  that  the 
shoots  and  leaves  thus  affected  did  not  thrive ;  nor  did  the  fruit 
ripen.  To  this  substance  I  applied  my  glasses ;  but  could  not 
discover  that  it  had  any  thing  to  do  with  animal  life,  as  I  at  first 
expected :  but,  upon  a  closer  examination  behind  the  larger 
boughs,  we  were  surprised  to  find  that  they  were  coated  over 
with  husky  shells,  from  whose  sides  proceeded  a  cotton-like 
substance,  surrounding  a  multitude  of  eggs.  This  curious  and 
uncommon  production  put  me  upon  recollecting  what  I  have 
heard  and  read  concerning  the  coccus  vitis  viniferce  of  Linnaeus, 
which,  in  the  south  of  Europe,  infests  many  vines,  and  is  an 
horrid  and  loathsome  pest.  As  soon  as  I  had  turned  to  the 
accounts  given  of  this  insect,  I  saw  at  once  that  it  swarmed  on 
my  vine  ;  and  did  not  appear  to  have  been  at  all  checked  by  the 
preceding  winter,  which  had  been  uncommonly  severe. 

Not  being  then  at  all  aware  that  it  had  any  thing  to  do  with 
England,  I  was  much  inclined  to  think  that  it  came  from  Gibraltar 
among  the  many  boxes  and  packages  of  plants  and  birds  which 
I  had  formerly  received  from  thence ;  and  especially  as  the  vine 
infested  grew  immediately  under  my  study-window,  where  I 
usually  kept  my  specimens.  True  it  is  that  I  had  received 
nothing  from  thence  for  some  years  :  but  as  insects,  we  know, 
are  conveyed  from  one  country  to  another  in  a  very  unexpected 
manner,  and  have  a  wonderful  power  of  maintaining  their  exist- 
ence till  they  fall  into  a  nidus  proper  for  their  support  and  in- 
crease, I  cannot  but  suspect  still  that  these  cocci  came  to  me 
originally  from  Andalusia.  Yet,  all  the  while,  candour  obliges 
me  to  confess  that  Mr.  Lightfoot  has  written  me  word  that  he 
once,  and  but  once,  saw  these  insects  on  a  vine  at  Weymouth  in 
Dorsetshire  ;  which,  it  is  here  to  be  observed,  is  a  sea-port  town 
to  which  the  coccus  might  be  conveyed  by  shipping. 

As  many  of  my  readers  may  possibly  never  have  heard  of  this 


OF  SELBOKNE  209 

strange  and  unusual  insect,  I  shall  here  transcribe  a  passage  from 
a  natural  history  of  Gibraltar,  written  by  the  Reverend  John 
White,  late  vicar  of  Blackburn  in  Lancashire,  but  not  yet  pub- 
lished :— 

"  In  the  year  1 770,  a  vine,  which  grew  on  the  east-side  of  my 
"  house,  and  which  had  produced  the  finest  crops  of  grapes  for 
"  years  past,  was  suddenly  overspread  on  all  the  woody  branches 
"  with  large  lumps  of  a  white  fibrous  substance  resembling  spiders' 
"  webs,  or  rather  raw  cotton.  It  was  of  a  very  clammy  quality, 
"sticking  fast  to  every  thing  that  touched  it,  and  capable  of 
"being  spun  into  long  threads.  At  first  I  suspected  it  to  be 
"  the  product  of  spiders,  but  could  find  none.  Nothing  was  to 
"be  seen  connected  with  it  but  many  brown  oval  husky  shells, 
"  which  by  no  means  looked  like  insects,  but  rather  resembled 
"bits  of  the  dry  bark  of  the  vine.  The  tree  had  a  plentiful 
"  crop  of  grapes  set,  when  this  pest  appeared  upon  it ;  but  the 
"fruit  was  manifestly  injured  by  this  foul  incumbrance.  It 
"remained  all  the  summer,  still  increasing,  and  loaded  the 
"  woody  and  bearing  branches  to  a  vast  degree.  I  often  pulled 
"  off  great  quantities  by  handfuls  ;  but  it  was  so  slimy  and 
"  tenacious  that  it  could  by  no  means  be  cleared.  The  grapes 
"  never  filled  to  their  natural  perfection,  but  turned  watery  and 
"  vapid.  Upon  perusing  the  works  afterwards  of  M.  de  Reaumur,1 
"  I  found  this  matter  perfectly  described  and  accounted  for. 
"Those  husky  shells,  which  I  had  observed,  were  no  other  than 
"  the  female  coccus,  from  whose  sides  this  cotton-like  substance 
"exsudes,  and  serves  as  a  covering  and  security  for  their  eggs." 

To  this  account  I  think  proper  to  add,  that,  though  the  female 
cocci  are  stationary,  and  seldom  remove  from  the  place  to  which 
they  stick,  yet  the  male  is  a  winged  insect ;  and  that  the  black 
dust  which  I  saw  was  undoubtedly  the  excrement  of  the  females, 
which  is  eaten  by  ants  as  well  as  flies.  Though  the  utmost 
severity  of  our  winter  did  not  destroy  these  insects,  yet  the 
attention  of  the  gardener  in  a  summer  or  two  has  entirely 
relieved  my  vine  from  this  filthy  annoyance. 

As  we  have  remarked  above  that  insects  are  often  conveyed 
from  one  country  to  another  in  a  very  unaccountable  manner,  I 
shall  here  mention  an  emigration  of  small  aphides,  which  was 
observed  in  the  village  of  Selborne  no  longer  ago  than  August 
the  1st,  1785. 

1  \Hist.  des  Insectes,  vol.  iv.,  tab.  vi.,  figs.  5-7.] 

14 


210  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

At  about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  that  day,  which  was 
very  hot,  the  people  of  this  village  were  surprised  by  a  shower  of 
aphides,  or  smother-flies,  which  fell  in  these  parts.  Those  that  were 
walking  in  the  street  at  that  juncture  found  themselves  covered 
with  these  insects,  which  settled  also  on  the  hedges  and  gardens, 
blackening  all  the  vegetables  where  they  alighted.  My  annuals 
were  discoloured  with  them,  and  the  stalks  of  a  bed  of  onions 
were  quite  coated  over  for  six  days  after.  These  armies  were 
then,  no  doubt,  in  a  state  of  emigration,  and  shifting  their 
quarters  ;  and  might  have  come,  as  far  as  we  know,  from  the 
great  hop-plantations  of  Kent  or  Sussex,  the  wind  being  all  that 
day  in  the  easterly  quarter.  They  were  observed  at  the  same 
time  in  great  clouds  about  Farnham,  and  all  along  the  vale  from 
Farnham  to  Alton.1 


LETTER  LIV.2 

TO  THE  SAME. 
DEAR  SIR, 

WHEN  I  happen  to  visit  a  family  where  gold  and  silver  fishes  are 
kept  in  a  glass  bowl,  I  am  always  pleased  with  the  occurrence, 
because  it  offers  me  an  opportunity  of  observing  the  actions 
and  propensities  of  those  beings  with  whom  we  can  be  little 
acquainted  in  their  natural  state.  Not  long  since  I  spent  a 
fortnight  at  the  house  of  a  friend  where  there  was  such  a  vivary, 
to  which  I  paid  no  small  attention,  taking  every  occasion  to 
remark  what  passed  within  it's  narrow  limits.  It  was  here  that 
I  first  observed  the  manner  in  which  fishes  die.  As  soon  as  the 
creature  sickens,  the  head  sinks  lower  and  lower,  and  it  stands 
as  it  were  on  it's  head ;  till,  getting  weaker,  and  losing  all  poise, 
the  tail  turns  over,  and  at  last  it  floats  on  the  surface  of  the  water 
with  it's  belly  uppermost.  The  reason  why  fishes,  when  dead, 
swim  in  that  manner  is  very  obvious  ;  because,  when  the  body  is 
no  longer  balanced  by  the  fins  of  the  belly,  the  broad  muscular 
back  preponderates  by  it's  own  gravity,  and  turns  the  belly 
uppermost,  as  lighter  from  it's  being  a  cavity,  and  because  it 

1  For  various  methods  by  which  several  insects  shift  their  quarters,  see  Derham's 
Physico-Theology. 

2  [First  published  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine  for  1786  (vol.  Ivi.,  p.  488),  with 
the  date  of  June  12,  and  under  the  signature  of  V. — Bennett.} 


OF  SELBOENE  211 

contains  the  swimming-bladders,  which  contribute  to  render  it 
buoyant.  Some  that  delight  in  gold  and  silver  fishes  have  adopted 
a  notion  that  they  need  no  aliment.  True  it  is  that  they  will 
subsist  for  a  long  time  without  any  apparent  food  but  what  they 
can  collect  from  pure  water  frequently  changed ;  yet  they  must 
draw  some  support  from  animalcula,  and  other  nourishment 
supplied  by  the  water ;  because,  though  they  seem  to  eat 
nothing,  yet  the  consequences  of  eating  often  drop  from  them. 
That  they  are  best  pleased  with  such  jejune  diet  may  easily  be 
confuted,  since  if  you  toss  them  crumbs  they  will  seize  them 
with  great  readiness,  not  to  say  greediness :  however,  bread 
should  be  given  sparingly,  lest,  turning  sour,  it  corrupt  the 
water.  They  will  also  feed  on  the  water-plant  called  lemna 
(duck's  meat),  and  also  on  small  fry. 

When  they  want  to  move  a  little  they  gently  protrude  themselves 
with  their  pinnce  pectorales  ;  but  it  is  with  their  strong  muscular 
tails  only  that  they  and  all  fishes  shoot  along  with  such  incon- 
ceivable rapidity.  It  has  been  said  that  the  eyes  of  fishes  are 
immoveable :  but  these  apparently  turn  them  forward  or  backward 
in  their  sockets  as  their  occasions  require.  They  take  little  notice 
of  a  lighted  candle,  though  applied  close  to  their  heads,  but 
flounce  and  seem  much  frightened  by  a  sudden  stroke  of  the 
hand  against  the  support  whereon  the  bowl  is  hung  ;  especially 
when  they  have  been  motionless,  and  are  perhaps  asleep.  As 
fishes  have  no  eyelids,  it  is  not  easy  to  discern  when  they  are 
sleeping  or  not,  because  their  eyes  are  always  open. 

Nothing  can  be  more  amusing  than  a  glass  bowl  containing 
such  fishes :  the  double  refractions  of  the  glass  and  water  represent 
them,  when  moving,  in  a  shifting  and  changeable  variety  of 
dimensions,  shades,  and  colours  ;  while  the  two  mediums,  assisted 
by  the  concavo-convex  shape  of  the  vessel,  magnify  and  distort 
them  vastly ;  not  to  mention  that  the  introduction  of  another 
element  and  it's  inhabitants  into  our  parlours  engages  the  fancy 
in  a  very  agreeable  manner. 

Gold  and  silver  fishes,  though  originally  natives  of  China  and 
Japan,  yet  are  become  so  well  reconciled  to  our  climate  as  to 
thrive  and  multiply  very  fast  in  our  ponds  and  stews.  Linnceus 
ranks  this  species  of  fish  under  the  genus  of  cyprinus,  or  carp,  and 
calls  it  cyprinus  auratus. 

Some  people  exhibit  this  sort  of  fish  in  a  very  fanciful  way ; 
for  they  cause  a  glass  bowl  to  be  blown  with  a  large  hollow  space 
within,  that  does  not  communicate  with  it.  In  this  cavity  they 


212  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

put  a  bird  occasionally ;  so  that  you  may  see  a  goldfinch  or  a 
linnet  hopping  as  it  were  in  the  midst  of  the  water,  and  the 
fishes  swimming  in  a  circle  round  it.  The  simple  exhibition  of 
the  fishes  is  agreeable  and  pleasant ;  but  in  so  complicated  a 
way  becomes  whimsical  and  unnatural,  and  liable  to  the  objection 
due  to  him, 

"  Qui  variare  cupit  rera  prodigialiter  unam."  l 

I  am,  &c. 


LETTER   LV. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

October  10,  1781. 
DEAR  SIR, 

I  THINK  I  have  observed  before  that  much  the  most  considerable 
part  of  the  house-martins  withdraw  from  hence  about  the  first 
week  in  October ;  but  that  some,  the  latter  broods  I  am  now 
convinced,  linger  on  till  towards  the  middle  of  that  month  :  and 
that  at  times,  once  perhaps  in  two  or  three  years,  a  flight,  for 
one  day  only,  has  shown  itself  in  the  first  week  of  November. 

Having  taken  notice,  in  October  1780,  that  the  last  flight  was 
numerous,  amounting  perhaps  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  ;  and  that 
the  season  was  soft  and  still ;  I  was  resolved  to  pay  uncommon 
attention  to  these  late  birds ;  to  find,  if  possible,  where  they 
roosted,  and  to  determine  the  precise  time  of  their  retreat. 
The  mode  of  life  of  these  latter  hirundines  is  very  favourable  to 
such  a  design ;  for  they  spend  the  whole  day  in  the  sheltered 
district,  between  me  and  the  Hanger,  sailing  about  in  a  placid, 
easy  manner,  and  feasting  on  those  insects  which  love  to  haunt  a 
spot  so  secure  from  ruffling  winds.  As  my  principal  object  was 
to  discover  the  place  of  their  roosting,  I  took  care  to  wait  on 
them  before  they  retired  to  rest,  and  was  much  pleased  to  find 
that,  for  several  evenings  together,  just  at  a  quarter  past  five  in 
the  afternoon,  they  all  scudded  away  in  great  haste  towards  the 
south-east,  and  darted  down  among  the  low  shrubs  above  the 
cottages  at  the  end  of  the  hill.  This  spot  in  many  respects 
seems  to  be  well  calculated  for  their  winter  residence :  for  in 

i  [Hor.,  De  Arte  Poetica,  29.] 


OF  SELBOENE  213 

many  parts  it  is  as  steep  as  the  roof  of  any  house,  and  therefore 
secure  from  the  annoyances  of  water ;  and  it  is  moreover  clothed 
with  beechen  shrubs,  which,  being  stunted  and  bitten  by  sheep, 
make  the  thickest  covert  imaginable  ;  and  are  so  entangled  as  to 
be  impervious  to  the  smallest  spaniel :  besides,  it  is  the  nature  of 
underwood  beech  never  to  cast  it's  leaf  all  the  winter ;  so  that, 
with  the  leaves  on  the  ground  and  those  on  the  twigs,  no  shelter 
can  be  more  complete.  I  watched  them  on  to  the  thirteenth  and 
fourteenth  of  October,  and  found  their  evening  retreat  was  exact 
and  uniform ;  but  after  this  they  made  no  regular  appearance. 
Now  and  then  a  straggler  was  seen ;  and,  on  the  twenty-second 
of  October,  I  observed  two  in  the  morning  over  the  village,  and 
with  them  my  remarks  for  the  season  ended. 

From  all  these  circumstances  put  together,  it  is  more  than 
probable  that  this  lingering  flight,  at  so  late  a  season  of  the  year, 
never  departed  from  the  island.  Had  they  indulged  me  that 
autumn  with  a  November  visit,  as  I  much  desired,  I  presume  that, 
with  proper  assistants,  I  should  have  settled  the  matter  past 
all  doubt ;  but  though  the  third  of  November  was  a  sweet  day, 
and  in  appearance  exactly  suited  to  my  wishes,  yet  not  a  martin 
was  to  be  seen ;  and  so  I  was  forced,  reluctantly,  to  give  up  the 
pursuit. 

I  have  only  to  add  that  were  the  bushes,  which  cover  some 
acres,  and  are  not  my  own  property,  to  be  grubbed  and  carefully 
examined,  probably  those  late  broods,  and  perhaps  the  whole 
aggregate  body  of  the  house-martins  of  this  district,  might  be 
found  there,  in  different  secret  dormitories  ;  and  that,  so  far 
from  withdrawing  into  warmer  climes,  it  would  appear  that 
they  never  depart  three  hundred  yards  from  the  village. 


LETTER  LVI. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

THEY  who  write  on  natural  history  cannot  too  frequently  advert 
to  instinct,  that  wonderful  limited  faculty,  which,  in  some  instances, 
raises  the  brute  creation  as  it  were  above  reason,  and  in  others 
leaves  them  so  far  below  it.  Philosophers  have  denned  instinct 
to  be  that  secret  influence  by  which  every  species  is  impelled 
naturally  to  pursue,  at  all  times,  the  same  way  or  track,  without 
any  teaching  or  example ;  whereas  reason,  without  instruction, 


214  THE  NATUEAL  HISTORY 

would  often  vary  and  do  that  by  many  methods  which  instinct 
effects  by  one  alone.  Now  this  maxim  must  be  taken  in  a 
qualified  sense ;  for  there  are  instances  in  which  instinct  does 
vary  and  conform  to  the  circumstances  of  place  and  convenience. 

It  has  been  remarked  that  every  species  of  bird  has  a  mode  of 
nidification  peculiar  to  itself;  so  that  a  school-boy  would  at  once 
pronounce  on  the  sort  of  nest  before  him.  This  is  the  case  among 
fields  and  woods,  and  wilds ;  but,  in  the  villages  round  London, 
where  mosses  and  gossamer,  and  cotton  from  vegetables,  are 
hardly  to  be  found,  the  nest  of  the  chaffinch  has  not  that  elegant 
finished  appearance,  nor  is  it  so  beautifully  studded  with  lichens, 
as  in  a  more  rural  district :  and  the  wren  is  obliged  to  construct 
it's  house  with  straws  and  dry  grasses,  which  do  not  give  it 
that  rotundity  and  compactness  so  remarkable  in  the  edifices 
of  that  little  architect.  Again,  the  regular  nest  of  the  house- 
martin  is  hemispheric  ;  but  where  a  rafter,  or  a  joist,  or  a  cornice, 
may  happen  to  stand  in  the  way,  the  nest  is  so  contrived  as  to 
conform  to  the  obstruction,  and  becomes  flat  or  oval,  or  compressed. 

In  the  following  instances  instinct  is  perfectly  uniform  and 
consistent.  There  are  three  creatures,  the  squirrel,  the  Jield- 
mouse,  and  the  bird  called  the  nut-hatch  (sitta  Europcea),  which 
live  much  on  hazel-nuts ;  and  yet  they  open  them  each  in  a 
different  way.  The  first,  after  rasping  off  the  small  end,  splits 
the  shell  in  two  with  his  long  fore-teeth,  as  a  man  does  with  his 
knife ;  the  second  nibbles  a  hole  with  his  teeth,  so  regular  as  if 
drilled  with  a  wimble,  and  yet  so  small  that  one  would  wonder 
how  the  kernel  can  be  extracted  through  it ;  while  the  last  picks 
an  irregular  ragged  hole  with  it's  bill :  but  as  this  artist  has  no 
paws  to  hold  the  nut  firm  while  he  pierces  it,  like  an  adroit 
workman,  he  fixes  it,  as  it  were  in  a  vice,  in  some  cleft  of  a  tree, 
or  in  some  crevice ;  when,  standing  over  it,  he  perforates  the 
stubborn  shell.  We  have  often  placed  nuts  in  the  chink  of  a 
gate-post  where  nut-hatches  have  been  known  to  haunt,  and 
have  always  found  that  those  birds  have  readily  penetrated 
them.  While  at  work  they  make  a  rapping  noise  that  may  be 
heard  at  a  considerable  distance. 

You  that  understand  both  the  theory  and  practical  part  of 
music  may  best  inform  us  why  harmony  or  melody  should  so 
strangely  affect  some  men,  as  it  were  by  recollection,  for  days 
after  a  concert  is  over.  What  I  mean  the  following  passage  will 
most  readily  explain : 

"Praehabebat   porro   vocibus    humanis,  instrumentisque   har- 


OF  SELBOKNE  215 

"  monicis  musicara  illam  avium :  non  quod  alia  quoque  non 
"  delectaretur ;  sed  quod  ex  musica  humana  relinqueretur  in 
"animo  continens  quaedam,  attentionemque  et  soranum  con- 
"  turbans  agitatio ;  dum  ascensus,  exscensus,  tenores,  ac  muta- 
"  tiones  illae  sonorum,  et  consonantiarum  euntque,  redeuntque 
"  per  phantasiam  : — cum  nihil  tale  relinqui  possit  ex  modulationi- 
"  bus  avium,  quae,  quod  non  sunt  perinde  a  nobis  imitabiles,  non 
"possunt  perinde  internam  facultatem  commovere." 

Gassendus  in  VitA  Peireskii. 

This  curious  quotation  strikes  me  much  by  so  well  represent- 
ing my  own  case,  and  by  describing  what  I  have  so  often  felt, 
but  never  could  so  well  express.  When  I  hear  fine  music  I  am 
haunted  with  passages  therefrom  night  and  day  ;  and  especially 
at  first  waking,  which,  by  their  importunity,  give  me  more  un- 
easiness than  pleasure  :  elegant  lessons  still  tease  my  imagination, 
and  recur  irresistibly  to  my  recollection  at  seasons,  and  even 
when  I  am  desirous  of  thinking  of  more  serious  matters. 
•  I  am,  &c. 


LETTER   LVII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

A  RARE,  and  I  think  a  new,  little  bird  frequents  my  garden,  which 
I  have  great  reason  to  think  is  the  pettichaps : l  it  is  common  in 
some  parts  of  the  kingdom  ;  and  I  have  received  formerly  several 
dead  specimens  from  Gibraltar.  This  bird  much  resembles  the 
white-throat,  but  has  a  more  white  or  rather  silvery  breast  and 
belly ;  is  restless  and  active,  like  the  willow-wrens,  and  hops  from 
bough  to  bough,  examining  every  part  for  food  ;  it  also  runs  up  the 
stems  of  the  cr -own-imperials -,  and,  putting  it's  head  into  the  bells 
of  those  flowers,  sips  the  liquor  which  stands  in  the  nectarium  of 
each  petal.  Sometimes  it  feeds  on  the  ground,  like  the  hedge- 
sparrow,  by  hopping  about  on  the  grass-plots  and  mown  walks. 

One  of  my  neighbours,  an  intelligent  and  observing  man,  in- 
forms me  that,  in  the  beginning  of  May,  and  about  ten  minutes 
before  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  he  discovered  a  great  cluster 

1  [Mr.  Harting  believes  that  White's  little  bird  was  not  the  garden  warbler,  but 
the  lesser  whitethroat.  Ray  (Synopsis  Avium,  p.  79)  and  Willughby  (Ornithologia, 
p.  158)  indicate  that  the  name/ttftafc^f  was  peculiar  to  Yorkshire.] 


216  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

of  house-swallows,  thirty  at  least  he  supposes,  perching  on  a  willow 
that  hung  over  the  verge  of  James  Knight's  upper-pond.  His 
attention  was  first  drawn  by  the  twittering  of  these  birds,  which 
sat  motionless  in  a  row  on  the  bough,  with  their  heads  all  one 
way,  and,  by  their  weight,  pressing  down  the  twig  so  that  it 
nearly  touched  the  water.  In  this  situation  he  watched  them 
till  he  could  see  no  longer.  Repeated  accounts  of  this  sort, 
spring  and  fall,  induce  us  greatly  to  suspect  that  house-swallows 
have  some  strong  attachment  to  water,  independent  of  the  matter 
of  food ;  and,  though  they  may  not  retire  into  that  element,  yet 
they  may  conceal  themselves  in  the  banks  of  pools  and  rivers 
during  the  uncomfortable  months  of  winter. 

One  of  the  keepers  of  Wolmer-forest  sent  me  a  peregrine-falcon, 
which  he  shot  on  the  verge  of  that  district  as  it  was  devouring  a 
wood-pigeon.  The  falco  peregrinus,  or  haggard  falcon,  is  a  noble 
species  of  hawk  seldom  seen  in  the  southern  counties.1  In 
winter  1767  one  was  killed  in  the  neighbouring  parish  of  Faring- 
don,  and  sent  by  me  to  Mr.  Pennant  into  North- Wales.2  Since 
that  time  I  have  met  with  none  till  now.  The  specimen  mentioned 
above  was  in  fine  preservation,  and  not  injured  by  the  shot :  it 
measured  forty-two  inches  from  wing  to  wing,  and  twenty-one 
from  beak  to  tail,  and  weighed  two  pounds  and  an  half  standing 
weight.  This  species  is  very  robust,  and  wonderfully  formed  for 
rapine :  it's  breast  was  plump  and  muscular ;  it's  thighs  long, 
thick,  and  brawny ;  and  it's  legs  remarkably  short  and  well  set : 
the  feet  were  armed  with  most  formidable,  sharp,  long  talons  : 
the  eyelids  and  cere  of  the  bill  were  yellow  ;  but  the  irides  of 
the  eyes  dusky ;  the  beak  was  thick  and  hooked,  and  of  a  dark 
colour,  and  had  a  jagged  process  near  the  end  of  the  upper 
mandible  on  each  side  :  it's  tail,  or  train,  was  short  in  proportion 
to  the  bulk  of  it's  body :  yet  the  wings,  when  closed,  did  not 
extend  to  the  end  of  the  train.  From  it's  large  and  fair  propor- 
tions it  might  be  supposed  to  have  been  a  female  ;  but  I  was  not 
permitted  to  cut  open  the  specimen.  For  one  of  the  birds  of  prey, 
which  are  usually  lean,  this  was  in  high  case  :  in  it's  craw  were 
many  barley-corns,  which  probably  came  from  the  crop  of  the 


1  ["This  is  a  complete  mistake.    The  species  breeds,  or  used  to  breed,  all  along 
the  south  coast,  where  the  cliffs  are  steep  enough,  from  Sussex  to  Devonshire,  if 
not  from  Kent  to  Cornwall.     White  does  not  seem  to  have  known  that  this  was 
the  common  falcon  used  by  falconers.     Its  occurrence  in  the  interior  is  by  no 
means  infrequent." — Newton,  in  Bell's  edition.] 

2  See  my  tenth  and  eleventh  letter  to  that  gentleman. 


OF  SELBORNE  217 

wood-pigeon,  on  which  it  was  feeding  when  shot :  for  voracious 
birds  do  not  eat  grain ;  but,  when  devouring  their  quarry,  with 
undistinguishing  vehemence  swallow  bones  and  feathers,  and  all 
matters,  indiscriminately.  This  falcon  was  probably  driven  from 
the  mountains  of  North  Wales  or  Scotland,  where  they  are  known 
to  breed,  by  rigorous  weather  and  deep  snows  that  had  lately 
fallen. 

I  am,  &c. 


LETTER   LVI1I. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

MY  near  neighbour,  a  young  gentleman  in  the  service  of  the 
East-India  Company,  has  brought  home  a  dog  and  a  bitch  of  the 
Chinese  breed  from  Canton  ;  such  as  are  fattened  in  that  country 
for  the  purpose  of  being  eaten  :  they  are  about  the  size  of  a 
moderate  spaniel ;  of  a  pale  yellow  colour,  with  coarse  bristling 
hairs  on  their  backs;  sharp  upright  ears,  and  peaked  heads, 
which  give  them  a  very  fox-like  appearance.  Their  hind  legs 
are  unusually  straight,  without  any  bend  at  the  hock  or  ham,  to 
such  a  degree  as  to  give  them  an  aukward  gait  when  they  trot. 
When  they  are  in  motion  their  tails  are  curved  high  over  their 
backs  like  those  of  some  hounds,  and  have  a  bare  place  each  on 
the  outside  from  the  tip  midway,  that  does  not  seem  to  be  matter 
of  accident,  but  somewhat  singular.  Their  eyes  are  jet-black, 
small,  and  piercing ;  the  insides  of  their  lips  and  mouths  of  the 
same  colour,  and  their  tongues  blue.  The  bitch  has  a  dew-claw 
on  each  hind  leg ;  the  dog  has  none.  When  taken  out  into  a 
field  the  bitch  showed  some  disposition  for  hunting,  and  dwelt 
on  the  scent  of  a  covey  of  partridges  till  she  sprung  them,  giving 
her  tongue  all  the  time.  The  dogs  in  South  America  are  dumb ; 
but  these  bark  much  in  a  short  thick  manner,  like  foxes ;  and 
have  a  surly,  savage  demeanour  like  their  ancestors,  which  are 
not  domesticated,  but  bred  up  in  sties,  where  they  are  fed  for 
the  table  with  rice-meal  and  other  farinaceous  food.  These  dogs, 
having  been  taken  on  board  as  soon  as  weaned,  could  not  learn 
much  from  their  dam ;  yet  they  did  not  relish  flesh  when  they 
came  to  England.  In  the  islands  of  the  pacific  ocean  the  dogs 
are  bred  up  on  vegetables,  and  would  not  eat  flesh  when  offered 
them  by  our  circumnavigators. 


218  THE  NATUEAL  HISTORY 

We  believe  that  all  dogs,  in  a  state  of  nature,  have  sharp, 
upright  fox-like  ears ;  and  that  hanging  ears,  which  are  esteemed 
so  graceful,  are  the  effect  of  choice  breeding  and  cultivation. 
Thus,  in  the  Travels  of  Ysbrandt  Ides  from  Muscovy  to  China,  the 
dogs  which  draw  the  Tartars  on  snow-sledges  near  the  river  Oby 
are  engraved  with  prick-ears,  like  those  from  Canton.  The  Kam- 
schatdales  also  train  the  same  sort  of  sharp-eared  peaked-nosed 
dogs  to  draw  their  sledges  ;  as  may  be  seen  in  an  elegant  print 
engraved  for  Captain  Cook's  last  voyage  round  the  world. 

Now  we  are  upon  the  subject  of  dogs  it  may  not  be  impertinent 
to  add,  that  spaniels,  as  all  sportsmen  know,  though  they  hunt 
partridges  and  pheasants  as  it  were  by  instinct,  and  with  much 
delight  and  alacrity,  yet  will  hardly  touch  their  bones  when 
offered  as  food ;  nor  will  a  mongrel  dog  of  my  own,  though  he 
is  remarkable  for  finding  that  sort  of  game.  But,  when  we  came 
to  offer  the  bones  of  partridges  to  the  two  Chinese  dogs,  they 
devoured  them  with  much  greediness,  and  licked  the  platter 
clean. 

No  sporting  dogs  will  flush  woodcocks  till  inured  to  the  scent 
and  trained  to  the  sport,  which  they  then  pursue  with  vehemence 
and  transport ;  but  then  they  will  not  touch  their  bones,  but  turn 
from  them  with  abhorrence,  even  when  they  are  hungry. 

Now,  that  dogs  should  not  be  fond  of  the  bones  of  such  birds 
as  they  are  not  disposed  to  hunt  is  no  wonder ;  but  why  they 
reject  and  do  not  care  to  eat  their  natural  game  is  not  so  easily 
accounted  for,  since  the  end  of  hunting  seems  to  be,  that  the 
chase  pursued  should  be  eaten.  Dogs  again  will  not  devour  the 
more  rancid  water-fowls,  nor  indeed  the  bones  of  any  wild-fowls  ; 
nor  will  they  touch  the  foetid  bodies  of  birds  that  feed  on  offal 
and  garbage  :  and  indeed  there  may  be  somewhat  of  providential 
instinct  in  this  circumstance  of  dislike ;  for  vultures,1  and  kites, 
and  ravens,  and  crows,  &c.  were  intended  to  be  messmates  with 
dogs  2  over  their  carrion ;  and  seem  to  be  appointed  by  Nature  as 
fellow-scavengers  to  remove  all  cadaverous  nuisances  from  the 
face  of  the  earth. 

I  am,  &c. 

1  Hasselquist,  in  his  Travels  to  the  Levant,  observes  that  the  dogs  and  vultures 
at  Grand  Cairo  maintain  such  a  friendly  intercourse  as  to  bring  up  their  young 
together  in  the  same  place. 

2  The  Chinese  word  for  a  dog  to  an  European  ear  sounds  like  quihloh. 


OF  SELBOENE  219 

LETTER  LIX. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

THE  fossil  wood  buried  in  the  bogs  of  Wolmer-forest  is  not  yet  all 
exhausted  ;  for  the  peat-cutters  now  and  then  stumble  upon  a  log. 
I  have  just  seen  a  piece  which  was  sent  by  a  labourer  of  Oakhanger 
to  a  carpenter  of  this  village  ;  this  was  the  but-end  of  a  small  oak, 
about  five  feet  long,  and  about  five  inches  in  diameter.  It  had 
apparently  been  severed  from  the  ground  by  an  axe,  was  very 
ponderous,  and  as  black  as  ebony.  Upon  asking  the  carpenter 
for  what  purpose  he  had  procured  it ;  he  told  me  that  it  was  to 
be  sent  to  his  brother,  a  joiner  at  Farnham,  who  was  to  make  use 
of  it  in  cabinet  work,  by  inlaying  it  along  with  whiter  woods. 

Those  that  are  much  abroad  on  evenings  after  it  is  dark,  in 
spring  and  summer,  frequently  hear  a  nocturnal  bird  passing  by 
on  the  wing,  and  repeating  often  a  short  quick  note.  This  bird 
I  have  remarked  myself,  but  never  could  make  out  till  lately.  I 
am  assured  now  that  it  is  the  Stone-curlew  (charadrius  oedicnemus). 
Some  of  them  pass  over  or  near  my  house  almost  every  evening 
after  it  is  dark,  from  the  uplands  of  the  hill  and  North  Jield,  away 
down  towards  Dorton ;  where,  among  the  streams  and  meadows, 
they  find  a  greater  plenty  of  food.  Birds  that  fly  by  night  are 
obliged  to  be  noisy  ;  their  notes  often  repeated  become  signals 
or  watch-words  to  keep  them  together,  that  they  may  not  stray 
or  lose  each  the  other  in  the  dark. 

The  evening  proceedings  and  manoeuvres  of  the  rooks  are 
curious  and  amusing  in  the  autumn.  Just  before  dusk  they 
return  in  long  strings  from  the  foraging  of  the  day,  and  rendezvous 
by  thousands  over  Selborne-down,  where  they  wheel  round  in  the 
air,  and  sport  and  dive  in  a  playful  manner,  all  the  while  exerting 
their  voices,  and  making  a  loud  cawing,  which,  being  blended 
and  softened  by  the  distance  that  we  at  the  village  are  below 
them,  becomes  a  confused  noise  or  chiding ;  or  rather  a  pleasing 
murmur,  very  engaging  to  the  imagination,  and  not  unlike  the 
cry  of  a  pack  of  hounds  in  hollow,  echoing  woods,  or  the  rushing 
of  the  wind  in  tall  trees,  or  the  tumbling  of  the  tide  upon  a  pebbly 
shore.  When  this  ceremony  is  over,  with  the  last  gleam  of  day, 
they  retire  for  the  night  to  the  deep  beechen  woods  of  Tisted  and 
Ropley.  We  remember  a  little  girl  who,  as  she  was  going  to  bed, 
used  to  remark  on  such  an  occurrence,  in  the  true  spirit  ofphysico- 


220  THE  NATURAL  HISTOEY 

theology,  that  the  rooks  were  saying  their  prayers ;  and  yet  this 
child  was  much  too  young  to  be  aware  that  the  scriptures  have 
said  of  the  Deity — that  "he  feedeth  the  ravens  who  call  upon 
him  ". 

I  am,  &c. 


LETTER  LX. 

TO   THE   SAME. 

IN  reading  Dr.  Huxhams  Obse?*vationes  de  A  ere,  &c.  written  at 
Plymouth,  I  find  by  those  curious  and  accurate  remarks,  which 
contain  an  account  of  the  weather  from  the  year  1727  to  the  year 
1748,  inclusive,  that  though  there  is  frequent  rain  in  that  district 
of  Devonshire,  yet  the  quantity  falling  is  not  great ;  and  that 
some  years  it  has  been  very  small :  for  in  1731  the  rain  measured 
only  17inch.— 266thou.  and  in  1741,  20—354;  and  again,  in  1743 
only  20 — 908.  Places  near  the  sea  have  frequent  scuds,  that 
keep  the  atmosphere  moist,  yet  do  not  reach  far  up  into  the 
country ;  making  thus  the  maritime  situations  appear  wet,  when 
the  rain  is  not  considerable.  In  the  wettest  years  at  Plymouth 
the  Doctor  measured  only  once  36;  and  again  once,  viz.  1734, 
37 — 114:  a  quantity  of  rain  that  has  twice  been  exceeded  at 
Selborne  in  the  short  period  of  my  observations.  Dr.  Huxham 
remarks,  that  frequent  small  rains  keep  the  air  moist ;  while 
heavy  ones  render  it  more  dry,  by  beating  down  the  vapours. 
He  is  also  of  opinion  that  the  dingy,  smoky  appearance  in  the  sky, 
in  very  dry  seasons,  arises  from  the  want  of  moisture  sufficient 
to  let  the  light  through,  and  render  the  atmosphere  transparent ; 
because  he  had  observed  several  bodies  more  diaphanous  when 
wet  than  dry ;  and  did  never  recollect  that  the  air  had  that  look 
in  rainy  seasons. 

My  friend,  who  lives  just  beyond  the  top  of  the  down,  brought 
his  three  swivel  guns  to  try  them  in  my  outlet,  with  their  muzzles 
towards  the  Hanger,  supposing  that  the  report  would  have  had  a 
great  effect ;  but  the  experiment  did  not  answer  his  expectation. 
He  then  removed  them  to  the  Alcove  on  the  Hanger  ;  when  the 
sound,  rushing  along  the  Lythc  and  Comb-wood,  was  very  grand  : 
but  it  was  at  the  Hermitage  that  the  echoes  and  repercussions 
delighted  the  hearers ;  not  only  filling  the  Lythe  with  the  roar, 
as  if  all  the  beeches  were  tearing  up  by  the  roots  ;  but,  turning 


OF  SELBORNE  221 

to  the  left,  they  pervaded  the  vale  above  Combrvood-ponds ;  and 
after  a  pause  seemed  to  take  up  the  crash  again,  and  to  extend 
round  Harteley- hangers,  and  to  die  away  at  last  among  the  coppices 
and  coverts  of  Ward  le  ham.  It  has  been  remarked  before  that 
this  district  is  an  anathoth,  a  place  of  responses  or  echoes,  and 
therefore  proper  for  such  experiments  :  we  may  farther  add  that 
the  pauses  in  echoes,  when  they  cease  and  yet  are  taken  up  again, 
like  the  pauses  in  music,  surprise  the  hearers,  and  have  a  fine 
effect  on  the  imagination. 

The  gentleman  above  mentioned  has  just  fixed  a  barometer  in 
his  parlour  at  Newton  Valence.  The  tube  was  first  filled  here  (at 
Selborne)  twice  with  care,  when  the  mercury  agreed  and  stood 
exactly  with  my  own ;  but,  being  filled  again  twice  at  Newton, 
the  mercury  stood,  on  account  of  the  great  elevation  of  that 
house,  three-tenths  of  an  inch  lower  than  the  barometers  at  this 
village,  and  so  continues  to  do,  be  the  weight  of  the  atmosphere 
what  it  may.  The  plate  of  the  barometer  at  Newton  is  figured 
as  low  as  27  ;  because  in  stormy  weather  the  mercury  there  will 
sometimes  descend  below  28.  We  have  supposed  Newton-house 
to  stand  two  hundred  feet  higher  than  this  house :  but  if  the 
rule  holds  good,  which  says  that  mercury  in  a  barometer  sinks 
one-tenth  of  an  inch  for  every  hundred  feet  elevation,  then  the 
Newton  barometer,  by  standing  three-tenths  lower  than  that  of 
Selborne,  proves  that  Newton-house  must  be  three  hundred  feet 
higher  than  that  in  which  I  am  writing,  instead  of  two  hundred. 

It  may  not  be  impertinent  to  add,  that  the  barometers  at 
Selborne  stand  three-tenths  of  an  inch  lower  than  the  barometers 
at  South  Lambeth  :  whence  we  may  conclude  that  the  former 
place  is  about  three  hundred  feet  higher  than  the  latter ;  and 
with  good  reason,  because  the  streams  that  rise  with  us  run  into 
the  Thames  at  Weybridge,  and  so  to  London.  Of  course  therefore 
there  must  be  lower  ground  all  the  way  from  Selborne  to  South 
Lambeth;  the  distance  between  which,  all  the  windings  and 
indentings  of  the  streams  considered,  cannot  be  less  than  an 
hundred  miles.1 

I  am,  &c. 

1  [I  find  by  means  of  a  good  aneroid  barometer  that  the  highest  part  of  Selborne 
Hill  is  nearly  or  quite  300  feet  above  the  house  at  Selborne  ;  and  Newton  Vicarage, 
on  the  same  hill,  is  not  far  from  that  elevation.  The  barometer  fitted  by  Gilbert 
White  himself,  and  doubtless  the  one  to  which  he  alludes  in  this  letter,  is  stiU  in 
the  old  place,  fixed  at  the  end  of  his  own  bookcase  ;  and  what  is  worthy  of  notice, 
besides  the  graduation  marked  on  the  tube  itself,  there  is  by  its  side  a  small  ivory 
plate,  graduated  nearly  '3  of  an  inch  lower  than  the  Selborne  reading,  and  which 


222  THE  NATUEAL  HISTORY 

LETTER  LXI. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

SINCE  the  weather  of  a  district  is  undoubtedly  part  of  it's  natural 
history,  I  shall  make  no  further  apology  for  the  four  following 
letters,  which  will  contain  many  particulars  concerning  some  of 
the  great  frosts  and  a  few  respecting  some  very  hot  summers, 
that  have  distinguished  themselves  from  the  rest  during  the 
course  of  my  observations. 

As  the  frost  in  January  1768  was,  for  the  small  time  it  lasted, 
the  most  severe  that  we  had  then  known  for  many  years,  and 
was  remarkably  injurious  to  ever-greens,  some  account  of  it's 
rigour,  and  reason  of  it's  ravages,  may  be  useful,  and  not  unac- 
ceptable to  persons  that  delight  in  planting  and  ornamenting ; 
and  may  particularly  become  a  work  that  professes  never  to  lose 
sight  of  utility. 

For  the  last  two  or  three  days  of  the  former  year  there  were 
considerable  falls  of  snow,  which  lay  deep  and  uniform  on  the 
ground  without  any  drifting,  wrapping  up  the  more  humble 
vegetation  in  perfect  security.  From  the  first  day  to  the  fifth 
of  the  new  year  more  snow  succeeded ;  but  from  that  day  the 
air  became  entirely  clear ;  and  the  heat  of  the  sun  about  noon 
had  a  considerable  influence  in  sheltered  situations. 

It  was  in  such  an  aspect  that  the  snow  on  the  author's  ever- 
greens was  melted  every  day,  and  frozen  intensely  every  night ; 
so  that  the  laurustines,  bays,  laurels,  and  arbutuses  looked,  in 
three  or  four  days,  as  if  they  had  been  burnt  in  the  fire ;  while  a 
neighbour's  plantation  of  the  same  kind,  in  a  high  cold  situation, 
where  the  snow  was  never  melted  at  all,  remained  uninjured. 

From  hence  I  would  infer  that  it  is  the  repeated  melting  and 
freezing  of  the  snow  that  is  so  fatal  to  vegetation,  rather  than 
the  severity  of  the  cold.  Therefore  it  highly  behoves  every 
planter,  who  wishes  to  escape  the  cruel  mortification  of  losing 

doubtless  was  intended  to  show  at  a  glance  the  height  of  the  mercury  at  his 
nephew's  parsonage  at  Newton  Valence,  where  a  similar  instrument  still  exists, 
attached  to  the  bookcase  in  the  study,  with  a  graduated  ivory  plate  by  its  side, 
and  the  tube  of  the  same  size.  The  Newton  tradition  assigns  the  construction 
and  fixing  of  this  instrument  to  Gilbert  White ;  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  its 
correctness.  Thus  both  the  barometers  mentioned  in  the  letter  are  still  in  existence, 
and  in  working  order.  My  friend  and  neighbour,  the  Rev.  A.  N.  C.  Maclachlan, 
the  present  incumbent,  preserves  the  Newton  one  with  a  sacred  care. — Bell.] 


OF  SELBORNE  223 

in  a  few  days  the  labour  and  hopes  of  years,  to  bestir  himself 
on  such  emergencies ;  and,  if  his  plantations  are  small,  to  avail 
himself  of  mats,  cloths,  pease-haum,  straw,  reeds,  or  any  such 
covering,  for  a  short  time ;  or,  if  his  shrubberies  are  extensive, 
to  see  that  his  people  go  about  with  prongs  and  forks,  and  care- 
fully dislodge  the  snow  from  the  boughs,  since  the  naked  foliage 
will  shift  much  better  for  itself,  than  where  the  snow  is  partly 
melted  and  frozen  again. 

It  may  perhaps  appear  at  first  like  a  paradox ;  but  doubtless 
the  more  tender  trees  and  shrubs  should  never  be  planted  in  hot 
aspects  ;  not  only  for  the  reason  assigned  above,  but  also  because, 
thus  circumstanced,  they  are  disposed  to  shoot  earlier  in  the 
spring,  and  grow  on  later  in  the  autumn,  than  they  would  other- 
wise do,  and  so  are  sufferers  by  lagging  or  early  frosts.  For  this 
reason  also  plants  from  Siberia  will  hardly  endure  our  climate ; 
because,  on  the  very  first  advances  of  spring,  they  shoot  away, 
and  so  are  cut  off  by  the  severe  nights  of  March  or  April. 

Dr.  Fothergill  and  others  have  experienced  the  same  incon- 
venience with  respect  to  the  more  tender  shrubs  from  North- 
America  ;  which  they  therefore  plant  under  north-walls.  There 
should  also  perhaps  be  a  wall  to  the  east  to  defend  them  from 
the  piercing  blasts  from  that  quarter. 

This  observation  might  without  any  impropriety  be  carried 
into  animal  life  ;  for  discerning  bee-masters  now  find  that  their 
hives  should  not  in  the  winter  be  exposed  to  the  hot  sun,  because 
such  unseasonable  warmth  awakens  the  inhabitants  too  early 
from  their  slumbers ;  and,  by  putting  their  juices  into  motion 
too  soon,  subjects  them  afterwards  to  inconveniences  when 
rigorous  weather  returns. 

The  coincidents  attending  this  short  but  intense  frost  were, 
that  the  horses  fell  sick  with  an  epidemic  distemper,  which 
injured  the  winds  of  many,  and  killed  some ;  that  colds  and 
coughs  were  general  among  the  human  species ;  that  it  froze 
under  people's  beds  for  several  nights  ;  that  meat  was  so  hard 
frozen  that  it  could  not  be  spitted,  and  could  not  be  secured 
but  in  cellars ;  that  several  redwings  and  thrushes  were  killed 
by  the  frost ;  and  that  the  large  titmouse  continued  to  pull 
straws  lengthwise  from  the  eaves  of  thatched  houses  and  barns 
in  a  most  adroit  manner,  for  a  purpose  that  has  been  explained 
already.1 

1  See  Letter  XLI.  to  Mr.  Pennant. 


224  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

On  the  3d  of  January  Benjamin  Martin's  thermometer  within 
doors,  in  a  close  parlour  where  there  was  no  fire,  fell  in  the  night 
to  20,  and  on  the  4th  to  18,  and  the  7th  to  17J,  a  degree  of  cold 
which  the  owner  never  since  saw  in  the  same  situation ;  and  he 
regrets  much  that  he  was  not  able  at  that  juncture  to  attend  his 
instrument  abroad.  All  this  time  the  wind  continued  north  and 
north-east ;  and  yet  on  the  8th  roost-cocks,  which  had  been  silent, 
began  to  sound  their  clarions,  and  crows  to  clamour,  as  prognostic 
of  milder  weather ;  and,  moreover,  moles  began  to  heave  and 
work,  and  a  manifest  thaw  took  place.  From  the  latter  circum- 
stance we  may  conclude  that  thaws  often  originate  under  ground 
from  warm  vapours  which  arise  ; l  else  how  should  subterraneous 
animals  receive  such  early  intimations  of  their  approach  ?  More- 
over, we  have  often  observed  that  cold  seems  to  descend  from 
above  ; 2  for,  when  a  thermometer  hangs  abroad  in  a  frosty  night, 
the  intervention  of  a  cloud  shall  immediately  raise  the  mercury 
ten  degrees  ;  and  a  clear  sky  shall  again  compel  it  to  descend  to 
it's  former  gage. 

And  here  it  may  be  proper  to  observe,  on  what  has  been  said 
above,  that  though  frosts  advance  to  their  utmost  severity  by 
somewhat  of  a  regular  gradation,  yet  thaws  do  not  usually  come 
on  by  as  regular  a  declension  of  cold ;  but  often  take  place 
immediately  from  intense  freezing  ;  as  men  in  sickness  often 
mend  at  once  from  a  paroxysm. 

To  the  great  credit  of  Portugal  laurels  and  American  junipers, 
be  it  remembered  that  they  remained  untouched  amidst  the 
general  havock  :  hence  men  should  learn  to  ornament  chiefly 
with  such  trees  as  are  able  to  withstand  accidental  severities, 
and  not  subject  themselves  to  the  vexation  of  a  loss  which  may 
befall  them  once  perhaps  in  ten  years,  yet  may  hardly  be  re- 
covered through  the  whole  course  of  their  lives. 

As  it  appeared  afterwards  the  ilexes  were  much  injured,  the 
cypresses  were  half  destroyed,  the  arbutuses  lingered  on,  but 
never  recovered ;  and  the  bays,  laurustines,  and  laurels,  were 
killed  to  the  ground  ;  and  the  very  wild  hollies,  in  hot  aspects, 
were  so  much  affected  that  they  cast  all  their  leaves. 


1  [This  notion  was  perhaps  put  into  White's  mind  by  some  remarks  in  Hales' 
Statical  Essays,   e.g.,  vol.  ii. ,  p.  360.      It  is  almost  needless  to  point  out  that 
changes  of  weather  arise  not  in  the  earth,  but  in  the  atmosphere,  as  the  power  of 
prediction  by  observation  of  the  barometer  implies.] 

2  [We  now  explain  the  fact  which  White  goes  on  to  relate  by  the  radiation  of 
heat  into  space.] 


OF  SELBORNE  225 

By  the  14th  of  January  the  snow  was  entirely  gone;  the 
turnips  emerged  not  damaged  at  all,  save  in  sunny  places  ;  the 
wheat  looked  delicately,  and  the  garden  plants  were  well  pre- 
served ;  for  snow  is  the  most  kindly  mantle  that  infant  vegetation 
can  be  wrapped  in :  were  it  not  for  that  friendly  meteor l  no 
vegetable  life  could  exist  at  all  in  northerly  regions.  Yet  in 
Sweden  the  earth  in  April  is  not  divested  of  snow  for  more 
than  a  fortnight  before  the  face  of  the  country  is  covered  with 
flowers. 


LETTER  LXII.2 

TO  THE  SAME. 

THERE  were  some  circumstances  attending  the  remarkable  frost 
in  January  1776  so  singular  and  striking,  that  a  short  detail  of 
them  may  not  be  unacceptable. 

The  most  certain  way  to  be  exact  will  be  to  copy  the  passages 
from  my  journal,  which  were  taken  from  time  to  time  as  things 
occurred.  But  it  may  be  proper  previously  to  remark  that  the 
first  week  in  January  was  uncommonly  wet,  and  drowned  with 
vast  rains  from  every  quarter :  from  whence  may  be  inferred,  as 
there  is  great  reason  to  believe  is  the  case,  that  intense  frosts 
seldom  take  place  till  the  earth  is  perfectly  glutted  and  chilled 
with  water ; 3  and  hence  dry  autumns  are  seldom  followed  by 
rigorous  winters. 

January  7th. — Snow  driving  all  the  day,  which  was  followed 
by  frost,  sleet,  and  some  snow,  till  the  12th,  when  a  prodigious 
mass  overwhelmed  all  the  works  of  men,  drifting  over  the  tops 
of  the  gates  and  filling  the  hollow  lanes. 

On  the  1 4th  the  writer  was  obliged  to  be  much  abroad  ;  and 
thinks  he  never  before  or  since  has   encountered  such  ru^ 
Siberian  weather.      Many  of  the  narrow  roads  were  now  f 

1  [The  primary  meaning  of  meteor  is  high  in  the  air;  thus  the  heavenly  bodies 
and  at  length  any  kind  of  natural  phenomenon  came  to  be  denoted  by  this  word. 
White  learned  from  Ray  and  Derham  to  call  rain,  snow,  cloud  and  wind  meteors, 
an  usage  which  is  still  commemorated  by  the  word  meteorology. ~\ 

2  [In  orig.  this  Letter  is  wrongly  numbered  LXI.,  and  the  rest  of  the  Letters  on 
Natural  History,  following  in  regular  sequence,  bear  wrong  numbers.] 

3  The  autumn  preceding  January  1768  was  very  wet,  and  particularly  the  month 
of  September,  during  which  there  fell  at  Lyndon,  in  the  county  of  Rutland,  six  inches 
and  an  half  oi  rain.     And  the  terrible  long  frost  of  1739-40  set  in  after  a  rainy 
season,  and  when  the  springs  were  very  high. 

15 


226  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

above  the  tops  of  the  hedges ;  through  which  the  snow  was 
driven  into  most  romantic  and  grotesque  shapes,  so  striking  to 
the  imagination  as  not  to  be  seen  without  wonder  and  pleasure. 
The  poultry  dared  not  to  stir  out  of  their  roosting  places ;  for 
cocks  and  hens  are  so  dazzled  and  confounded  by  the  glare  of 
snow  that  they  would  soon  perish  without  assistance.  The  hares 
also  lay  sullenly  in  their  seats,  and  would  not  move  till  compelled 
by  hunger;  being  conscious,  poor  animals,  that  the  drifts  and 
heaps  treacherously  betray  their  footsteps,  and  prove  fatal  to 
numbers  of  them. 

From  the  14-th  the  snow  continued  to  increase,  and  began  to 
stop  the  road  waggons  and  coaches,  which  could  no  longer  keep 
on  their  regular  stages ;  and  especially  on  the  western  roads, 
where  the  fall  appears  to  have  been  deeper  than  in  the  south. 
The  company  at  Bath,  that  wanted  to  attend  the  Queen's  birth- 
day, were  strangely  incommoded :  many  carriages  of  persons, 
who  got  in  their  way  to  town  from  Bath  as  far  as  Marlborough, 
after  strange  embarrassments,  here  met  with  a  ne  plus  ultra.  The 
ladies  fretted,  and  offered  large  rewards  to  labourers,  if  they 
would  shovel  them  a  track  to  London  :  but  the  relentless  heaps 
of  snow  were  too  bulky  to  be  removed  ;  and  so  the  1 8th  passed 
over,  leaving  the  company  in  very  uncomfortable  circumstances 
at  the  Castle  and  other  inns. 

On  the  20th  the  sun  shone  out  for  the  first  time  since  the 
frost  began ;  a  circumstance  that  has  been  remarked  before 
much  in  favour  of  vegetation.  All  this  time  the  cold  was  not 
very  intense,  for  the  thermometer  stood  at  29,  28,  25,  and  there- 
about;  but  on  the  21st  it  descended  to  20.  The  birds  now 
began  to  be  in  a  very  pitiable  and  starving  condition.  Tamed 
by  the  season,  sky-larks  settled  in  the  streets  of  towns,  because 
they  saw  the  ground  was  bare ;  rooks  frequented  dunghills  close 
to  houses  ;  and  crows  watched  horses  as  they  passed,  and  greedily 
devoured  what  dropped  from  them ;  hares  now  came  into  men's 
gardens,  and,  scraping  away  the  snow,  devoured  such  plants  as 
they  could  find. 

On  the  22d  the  author  had  occasion  to  go  to  London  through 
a  sort  of  Laplandian- scene,  very  wild  and  grotesque  indeed.  But 
the  metropolis  itself  exhibited  a  still  more  singular  appearance 
than  the  country  ;  for,  being  bedded  deep  in  snow,  the  pavement 
of  the  streets  could  not  be  touched  by  the  wheels  or  the  horses' 
feet,  so  that  the  carriages  ran  about  without  the  least  noise. 
Such  an  exemption  from  din  and  clatter  was  strange,  but  not 


OF  SELBORNE  227 

pleasant ;  it  seemed  to  convey  an  uncomfortable  idea  of  desola- 
tion: 


ipsa  silentia  terrent." 


On  the  27th  much  snow  fell  all  day,  and  in  the  evening  the 
frost  became  very  intense.  At  South  Lambeth,  for  the  four 
following  nights,  the  thermometer  fell  to  11,  7,  6,  6;  and  at 
Selborne  to  7,  6',  10;  and  on  the  31st  of  January,  just  before 
sun-rise,  with  rime  on  the  trees  and  on  the  tube  of  the  glass,  the 
quicksilver  sunk  exactly  to  zero,  being  32  degrees  below  the 
freezing  point:  but  by  eleven  in  the  morning,  though  in  the 
shade,  it  sprung  up  to  1  6|-  2  —  a  most  unusual  degree  of  cold  this 
for  the  south  of  England  !  During  these  four  nights  the  cold 
was  so  penetrating  that  it  occasioned  ice  in  warm  chambers  and 
under  beds  ;  and  in  the  day  the  wind  was  so  keen  that  persons 
of  robust  constitutions  could  scarcely  endure  to  face  it.  The 
Thames  was  at  once  so  frozen  over  both  above  and  below  bridge 
that  crowds  ran  about  on  the  ice.  The  streets  were  now  strangely 
incumbered  with  snow,  which  crumbled  and  trod  dusty  ;  and, 
turning  grey,  resembled  bay-salt  :  what  had  fallen  on  the  roofs 
was  so  perfectly  dry  that,  from  first  to  last,  it  lay  twenty-six 
days  on  the  houses  in  the  city  ;  a  longer  time  than  had  been 
remembered  by  the  oldest  housekeepers  living.  According  to 
all  appearances  we  might  now  have  expected  the  continuance 
of  this  rigorous  weather  for  weeks  to  come,  since  every  night 
increased  in  severity  ;  but  behold,  without  any  apparent  cause, 
on  the  1  st  of  February  a  thaw  took  place,  and  some  rain  followed 
before  night  ;  making  good  the  observation  above,  that  frosts 
often  go  off  as  it  were  at  once,  without  any  gradual  declension 
of  cold.  On  the  2d  of  February  the  thaw  persisted  ;  and  on 
the  3d  swarms  of  little  insects  were  frisking  and  sporting  in  a 
court-yard  at  South  Lambeth,  as  if  they  had  felt  no  frost.  Why 
the  juices  in  the  small  bodies  and  smaller  limbs  of  such  minute 
beings  are  not  frozen  is  a  matter  of  curious  inquiry.3 

Severe  frosts  seem  to  be  partial,  or  to  run  in  currents  ;  for,  at 


2  At  Selborne  the  cold  was  greater  than  at  any  other  place  that  the  author  could 
hear  of  with  certainty  :  though  some  reported  at  the  time  that  at  a  village  in  Kent 
the  thermometer  fell  two  degrees  below  zero,  vis.  34  degrees  below  the  freezing 
point. 

The  thermometer  used  at  Selborne  was  graduated  by  Benjamin  Martin. 

3  [It  seems  paradoxical,  but  it  is  experimentally  ascertained,  that  it  is  extremely 
difficult  to  freeze  fluids  in  capillary  tubes.] 


228  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

the  same  juncture,  as  the  author  was  informed  by  accurate  cor- 
respondents, at  Lyndon,  in  the  county  of  Rutland,  the  thermometer 
stood  at  19  ;  at  Blackburn,  in  Lancashire,  at  19  ;  and  at  Manchester 
at  21,  20,  and  18.  Thus  does  some  unknown  circumstance 
strangely  overbalance  latitude,  and  render  the  cold  sometimes 
much  greater  in  the  southern  than  the  northern  parts  of  this 
kingdom. 

The  consequences  of  this  severity  were,  that  in  Hampshire, 
at  the  melting  of  the  snow,  the  wheat  looked  well,  and  the 
turnips  came  forth  little  injured.  The  laurels  and  laurustines 
were  somewhat  damaged,  but  only  in  hot  aspects.  No  evergreens 
wer*e  quite  destroyed ;  and  not  half  the  damage  sustained  that 
befell  in  January  1768.  Those  laurels  that  were  a  little  scorched 
on  the  south-sides  were  perfectly  untouched  on  their  north-sides. 
The  care  taken  to  shake  the  snow  day  by  day  from  the  branches 
seemed  greatly  to  avail  the  author's  evergreens.  A  neighbour's 
laurel-hedge,  in  a  high  situation,  and  facing  to  the  north,  was 
perfectly  green  and  vigorous ;  and  the  Portugal  laurels  remained 
unhurt. 

As  to  the  birds,  the  thrushes  and  blackbirds  were  mostly  de- 
stroyed ;  and  the  partridges,  by  the  weather  and  poachers,  were 
so  thinned  that  few  remained  to  breed  the  following  year. 


LETTER  LXIII. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

As  the  frost  in  December  1784  was  very  extraordinary,  you,  I  trust, 
will  not  be  displeased  to  hear  the  particulars ;  and  especially 
when  I  promise  to  say  no  more  about  the  severities  of  winter 
after  I  have  finished  this  letter. 

The  first  week  in  December  was  very  wet,  with  the  barometer 
very  low.  On  the  7th,  with  the  barometer  at  28 — five  tenths, 
came  on  a  vast  snow,  which  continued  all  that  day  and  the  next, 
and  most  part  of  the  following  night ;  so  that  by  the  morning  of 
the  9th  the  works  of  men  were  quite  overwhelmed,  the  lanes 
filled  so  as  to  be  impassable,  and  the  ground  covered  twelve  or 
fifteen  inches  without  any  drifting.  In  the  evening  of  the  9th 
the  air  began  to  be  so  very  sharp  that  we  thought  it  would  be 
curious  to  attend  to  the  motions  of  a  thermometer :  we  therefore 
hung  out  two ;  one  made  by  Martin  and  one  by  Dollond,  which 


OF  SELBORNE  229 

soon  began  to  shew  us  what  we  were  to  expect ;  for,  by  ten 
o'clock,  they  fell  to  21,  and  at  eleven  to  4,  when  we  went  to 
bed.  On  the  10th,  in  the  morning,  the  quicksilver  of  Do/land's 
glass  was  down  to  half  a  degree  below  zero  ;  and  that  of  Martin's, 
which  was  absurdly  graduated  only  to  four  degrees  above  zero, 
sunk  quite  into  the  brass  guard  of  the  ball ;  so  that  when  the 
weather  became  most  interesting  this  was  useless.  On  the  10th, 
at  eleven  at  night,  though  the  air  was  perfectly  still,  Dollond's 
glass  went  down  to  one  degree  beloiv  zero  !  This  strange  severity 
of  the  weather  made  me  very  desirous  to  know  what  degree  of 
cold  there  might  be  in  such  an  exalted  and  near  situation  as 
Newton.  We  had  therefore,  on  the  morning  of  the  10th,  written 

to  Mr. ,  and  entreated  him  to  hang  out  his  thermometer, 

made  by  Adams ;  and  to  pay  some  attention  to  it  morning  and 
evening ;  expecting  wonderful  phaenomena,  in  so  elevated  a 
region,  at  two  hundred  feet  or  more  above  my  house.  But, 
behold !  on  the  1  Oth,  at  eleven  at  night,  it  was  down  only  to  1 7, 
and  the  next  morning  at  22,  when  mine  was  at  ten !  We  were 
so  disturbed  at  this  unexpected  reverse  of  comparative  local  cold, 

that  we  sent  one  of  my  glasses  up,  thinking  that  of  Mr. 

must,  some  how,  be  wrongly  constructed.  But,  when  the  instru- 
ments came  to  be  confronted,  they  went  exactly  together :  so 
that,  for  one  night  at  least,  the  cold  at  Newton  was  18  degrees 
less  than  at  Selborne ;  and,  through  the  whole  frost,  10  or  12 
degrees ;  l  and  indeed,  when  we  came  to  observe  consequences, 
we  could  readily  credit  this ;  for  all  my  laurustines,  bays,  ilexes, 
arbutuses,  cypresses,  and  even  my  Portugal  laurels?  and  (which 
occasions  more  regret)  my  fine  sloping  laurel  hedge,  were  scorched 
up;  while,  at  Newton,  the  same  trees  have  not  lost  a  leaf! 

We  had  steady  frost  on  to  the  25th,  when  the  thermometer  in 
the  morning  was  down  to  10  with  us,  and  at  Newton  only  to  21. 
Strong  frost  continued  till  the  31st,  when  some  tendency  to  thaw 
was  observed ;  and,  by  January  the  3d,  1 785,  the  thaw  was  con- 
firmed, and  some  rain  fell. 

A  circumstance  that  I  must  not  omit,  because  it  was  new  to 
us,  is,  that  on  Friday,  December  the  10th,  being  bright  sun-shine, 


1  [In  the  still  weather  which  usually  accompanies  a  very  hard  frost,  the  coldest 
air  settles  in  the  hollows,  and  here  the  lowest  temperatures  are  observed.] 

2  Mr.  Miller,  in  his  Gardener's  Dictionary,  says  positively  that  the  Portugal 
laurels  remained  untouched  in  the  remarkable  frost  of  1739-40.      So  that  either 
that  accurate  observer  was  much  mistaken,  or  else  the  frost  of  December-  1784  was 
much  more  severe  and  destructive  than  that  in  the  year  above-mentioned. 


230  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

the  air  was  full  of  icy  spiculce,  floating  in  all  directions,  like  atoms 
in  a  sun-beam  let  into  a  dark  room.  We  thought  them  at  first 
particles  of  the  rime  falling  from  my  tall  hedges ;  but  were  soon 
convinced  to  the  contrary,  by  making  our  observations  in  open 
places  where  no  rime  could  reach  us.  Were  they  watery  particles 
of  the  air  frozen  as  they  floated ;  or  were  they  evaporations  from 
the  snow  frozen  as  they  mounted  ? 

We  were  much  obliged  to  the  thermometers  for  the  early  in- 
formation they  gave  us  ;  and  hurried  our  apples,  pears,  onions, 
potatoes,  &c.  into  the  cellar,  and  warm  closets ;  while  those  who 
had  not,  or  neglected  such  warnings,  lost  all  their  stores  of  roots 
and  fruits,  and  had  their  very  bread  and  cheese  frozen. 

I  must  not  omit  to  tell  you  that,  during  those  two  Siberian 
days,  my  parlour-cat  was  so  electric,  that  had  a  person  stroked 
her,  and  been  properly  insulated,  the  shock  might  have  been 
given  to  a  whole  circle  of  people. 

I  forgot  to  mention  before,  that,  during  the  two  severe  days, 
two  men,  who  were  tracing  hares  in  the  snow,  had  their  feet 
frozen ;  and  two  men,  who  were  much  better  employed,  had 
their  fingers  so  affected  by  the  frost,  while  they  were  thrashing 
in  a  barn,  that  a  mortification  followed,  from  which  they  did  not 
recover  for  many  weeks. 

This  frost  killed  all  the  furze  l  and  most  of  the  ivy,  and  in  many 
places  stripped  the  hollies  of  all  their  leaves.  It  came  at  a  very 
early  time  of  the  year,  before  old  November  ended  ;  and  yet  may 
be  allowed  from  it's  effects  to  have  exceeded  any  since  1739-40. 


LETTER  LXIV. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

As  the  effects  of  heat  are  seldom  very  remarkable  in  the  northerly 
climate  of  England,  where  the  summers  are  often  so  defective  in 
warmth  and  sun-shine  as  not  to  ripen  the  fruits  of  the  earth  so 
well  as  might  be  wished,  I  shall  be  more  concise  in  my  account 
of  the  severity  of  a  summer  season,  and  so  make  a  little  amends 
for  the  prolix  account  of  the  degrees  of  cold,  and  the  inconveni- 
ences that  we  suffered  from  late  rigorous  winters. 

The  summers  of  1781  and  1783  were  unusually  hot  and  dry; 

1  [Furze  is  near  its  northern  limit  in  England.     Even  in  Scotland  it  is  by  com- 
parison scanty,  and  on  the  continent  it  does  not  extend  north  of  Denmark.] 


OF  SELBORNE  231 

to  them  therefore  I  shall  turn  back  in  my  journals,  without 
recurring  to  any  more  distant  period.  In  the  former  of  these 
years  my  peach  and  nectarine-trees  suffered  so  much  from  the 
heat  that  the  rind  on  the  bodies  was  scalded  and  came  off; 
since  which  the  trees  have  been  in  a  decaying  state.  This  may 
prove  a  hint  to  assiduous  gardeners  to  fence  and  shelter  their 
wall-trees  with  mats  or  boards,  as  they  may  easily  do,  because 
such  annoyance  is  seldom  of  long  continuance.  During  that 
summer  also,  I  observed  that  my  apples  were  coddled,  as  it 
were,  on  the  trees ;  so  that  they  had  no  quickness  of  flavour, 
and  would  not  keep  in  the  winter.  This  circumstance  put  me 
in  mind  of  what  I  have  heard  travellers  assert,  that  they  never 
ate  a  good  apple  or  apricot  in  the  south  of  Europe,  where  the 
heats  were  so  great  as  to  render  the  juices  vapid  and  insipid. 

The  great  pests  of  a  garden  are  wasps,  which  destroy  all  the 
finer  fruits  just  as  they  are  coming  into  perfection.  In  1781 
we  had  none;  in  1783  there  were  myriads;  which  would  have 
devoured  all  the  produce  of  my  garden,  had  not  we  set  the  boys 
to  take  the  nests,  and  caught  thousands  with  hazel  twigs  tipped 
with  bird-lime :  we  have  since  employed  the  boys  to  take  and 
destroy  the  large  breeding  wasps  in  the  spring.  Such  expedients 
have  a  great  effect  on  these  marauders,  and  will  keep  them  under. 
Though  wasps  do  not  abound  but  in  hot  summers,  yet  they  do 
not  prevail  in  every  hot  summer,  as  I  have  instanced  in  the  two 
years  above-mentioned. 

In  the  sultry  season  of  1783  honey-dews  were  so  frequent  as 
to  deface  and  destroy  the  beauties  of  my  garden.  My  honey- 
suckles, which  were  one  week  the  most  sweet  and  lovely  objects 
that  the  eye  could  behold,  became  the  next  the  most  loathsome ; 
being  enveloped  in  a  viscous  substance,  and  loaded  with  black 
aphides,  or  smother-flies.  The  occasion  of  this  clammy  appearance 
seems  to  be  this,  that  in  hot  weather  the  effluvia  of  flowers  in  fields 
and  meadows  and  gardens  are  drawn  up  in  the  day  by  a  brisk 
evaporation,  and  then  in  the  night  fall  down  again  with  the  dews, 
in  which  they  are  entangled ; l  that  the  air  is  strongly  scented, 

1  [White's  explanation  of  the  origin  of  honey-dew  is  quite  impossible.  Perhaps 
he  got  his  fanciful  explanation  from  Hales  (Statical  Essays,  vol.  ii. ,  p.  357),  who 
suggests  that  the  chief  use  of  pollen  is  to  disperse  ' '  an  atmosphere  of  sublimed  sul- 
phurous pounce  (for  many  trees  and  plants  abound  with  it),  which  uniting  with  the- 
air  particles,  they,  or  a  very  sublimed  spirit  from  them,  may  perhaps  be  inspired  or 
imbibed  at  several  parts  of  the  plant,  and  especially  at  the  Pistillum,  and  be  thence 
conveyed  to  the  Capsula  seminalis,  etc."  ;  or  he  may  have  read  in  Pliny  that  honey- 
dew  falls  from  heaven.  Reaumur  (Hist,  des  Insectes,  voL  ill,  Mtm.  ix.)  long  ago 


232  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

and  therefore  impregnated  with  the  particles  of  flowers  in  summer 
weather,  our  senses  will  inform  us ;  and  that  this  clammy  sweet 
substance  is  of  the  vegetable  kind  we  may  learn  from  bees,  to 
whom  it  is  very  grateful  :  and  we  may  be  assured  that  it  falls  in 
the  night,  because  it  is  always  seen  first  in  warm  still  mornings. 
On  chalky  and  sandy  soils,  and  in  the  hot  villages  about  London, 
the  thermometer  has  been  often  observed  to  mount  as  high  as 
83  or  84 ;  but  with  us,  in  this  hilly  and  woody  district,  I  have 
hardly  ever  seen  it  exceed  80 ;  nor  does  it  often  arrive  at  that 
pitch.  The  reason,  I  conclude,  is,  that  our  dense  clayey  soil, 
so  much  shaded  by  trees,  is  not  so  easily  heated  through  as  those 
above-mentioned :  and,  besides,  our  mountains  cause  currents  of 
air  and  breezes  ;  and  the  vast  effluvia  from  our  woodlands  temper 
and  moderate  our  heats. 


LETTER  LXV. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

THE  summer  of  the  year  1783  was  an  amazing  and  portentous 
one,  and  full  of  horrible  phaenomena ;  for,  besides  the  alarming 

showed  that  aphides  discharge  a  sugary  fluid  from  the  intestine,  which  collects  on 
leaves  in  dry  summer  weather  ;  he  was  also  aware,  like  Goedaert  before  him,  that 
ants  are  fond  of  this  excretion,  and  protect  and  caress  the  aphides  for  the  sake  of  it. 
It  was,  however,  long  believed  that  there  is  also  a  true  vegetable  honey-dew,  not 
excreted  by  insects  at  all.  This  was  taught  by  Treviranus,  Boussingault  and 
Hooker,  and  Darwin  vigorously  maintained  the  same  doctrine  (Cross-  and  Self- 
fertilisation,  p.  404).  It  cannot,  however,  stand  the  observations  and  experiments 
of  Biisgen  (Jen.  Zeits.  f.  Nat.,  1891),  who  shows  that  except  small  quantities 
excreted  by  sundry  insects  and  by  the  parasitic  fungus,  Claviceps  purpurea,  all 
honey-dew  is  formed  by  aphides  and  scale-insects.  The  fluid  is  dropped  or  squirted 
out,  and  may  fall  in  a  fine  shower  on  distant  objects.  When  fresh  drops  are  ob- 
served on  a  leaf,  it  is  instructive  to  place  a  piece  of  paper  or  a  glass  slip  on  the 
same  spot.  It  will  generally  become  sprinkled  with  honey-dew  before  long,  and 
thus  will  show  that  the  sugary  fluid  does  not  exude  from  the  leaf,  but  is  dropped 
from  above.  Moreover,  the  drops  do  not  grow  steadily,  as  we  should  expect  them 
to  do  if  they  exuded  from  the  plant,  but  increase  only  by  running  together.  The 
tongue  or  proboscis  of  an  aphis  is  beautifully  contrived  for  penetrating  the  tissues 
of  a  leaf  or  shoot.  It  works  its  way  in  between  the  hard  and  impenetrable  structures, 
often  taking  a  sinuous  course  till  it  reaches  the  soft  bast,  whose  vessels  are  then 
tapped.  Linnaeus  originated  the  oft-repeated  error,  still  to  be  found  in  modern 
books,  that  the  tubes  on  the  abdomen  of  the  aphis  discharge  the  sugary  excretion. 
The  tubes  emit  a  fluid  which  sets  on  exposure  to  air,  and  is  believed  in  some  measure 
to  protect  the  aphis  from  its  many  insect-enemies  (lady-bird  larvse,  Chrysopa-larvae, 
Syrphus-larvae,  &c.).  The  tubes  can  be  pointed  towards  the  place  of  attack,  the 
fluid  is  discharged,  and  the  face  or  jaws  of  the  assailant  are  at  times  so  clogged  that 
he  retires  to  rub  them  clean.  But  neither  this  artifice  nor  the  friendly  aid  of  the  ants 
are  altogether  adequate,  for  the  aphides  are  often  devoured  in  countless  numbers.] 


OF  SELBORNE  233 

meteors  and  tremendous  thunder-storms  that  affrighted  and  dis- 
tressed the  different  counties  of  this  kingdom,  the  peculiar  haze, 
or  smokey  fog,  that  prevailed  for  many  weeks  in  this  island, 
and  in  every  part  of  Europe,  and  even  beyond  it's  limits,  was  a 
most  extraordinary  appearance,  unlike  anything  known  within 
the  memory  of  man.1  By  my  journal  I  find  that  I  had  noticed 
this  strange  occurrence  from  June  23  to  July  20  inclusive,  during 
which  period  the  wind  varied  to  every  quarter  without  making 
any  alteration  in  the  air.  The  sun,  at  noon,  looked  as  blank  as 
a  clouded  moon,  and  shed  a  rust-coloured  ferruginous  light  on  the 
ground,  and  floors  of  rooms  ;  but  was  particularly  lurid  and  blood- 
coloured  at  rising  and  setting.  All  the  time  the  heat  was  so 
intense  that  butchers'  meat  could  hardly  be  eaten  on  the  day 
after  it  was  killed ;  and  the  flies  swarmed  so  in  the  lanes  and 
hedges  that  they  rendered  the  horses  half  frantic,  and  riding 
irksome.  The  country  people  began  to  look  with  a  superstitious 
awe  at  the  red,  louring  aspect  of  the  sun;  and  indeed  there  was 
reason  for  the  most  enlightened  person  to  be  apprehensive ;  for, 
all  the  while,  Calabria  and  part  of  the  isle  of  Sicily,  were  torn 
and  convulsed  with  earthquakes ;  and  about  that  juncture  a 
volcano  sprung  out  of  the  sea  on  the  coast  of  Norway.2  On  this 

1  [This  has  become  a  classical  passage,  and  is  often  quoted  in  illustration  of 
the  phenomena  which  attended  the  great  eruption  of  Krakatoa  in  1883   (See 
Report  of  the  Krakatoa  Committee  of  the  Royal  Society,  1888).     It  is  believed  that 
hazes  with  red  after-glows  and  other  optical  effects  spread  over  wide  areas  after 
volcanic  eruptions  in  which  much  fine  dust  is  shot  into  the  air.    Three  instances 
have  been  noted,  belonging  to  the  years  1783,  1831  and  1883. 

The  great  eruption  of  Skaptar  Jokull  in  Iceland  is  supposed  to  be  connected 
with  the  dry  fog  of  1783.  The  eruption  began  in  May,  and  continued  for  nearly 
two  years.  In  the  end  of  May  a  dry  fog  was  observed  at  Copenhagen,  which 
gradually  spread  to  North  Africa,  Asia  and  North  America.  In  Caithness  the 
crops  were  destroyed,  and  1783  was  long  remembered  as  the  "  year  of  the  ashie  ". 

The  year  1831  was  marked  by  great  eruptions  in  the  Mediterranean  (Graham 
Island),  Equador  and  the  Bahujan  Islands.  Red  after-glows  were  seen  in  England, 
South  Europe  and  Washington. 

During  the  Krakatoa  eruption  (August  26-27,  1883)  much  fine  volcanic  dust 
filled  the  air  along  the  neighbouring  coasts.  On  8th  September  dust  fell  upon  the 
deck  of  the  Scotia,  which  was  3,700  miles  from  the  volcano.  The  dust-haze  spread 
at  a  rate  of  over  70  miles  an  hour,  at  first  westward,  but  afterwards  northward  and 
southward.  Within  the  equatorial  belt  it  was  often  so  dense  as  to  hide  the  sun 
when  near  the  horizon.  In  November  and  December  unusual  twilight  effects 
were  seen  in  England,  the  red  after-glows  in  particular  being  generally  remarked. 
Similar  appearances  were  noted  in  Honolulu,  the  United  States,  Chili,  Brazil,  New 
Zealand,  Australia,  the  Cape,  Iceland,  and  many  parts  of  Europe.  The  density 
of  the  haze  at  different  places  and  the  dates  of  occurrence  were  believed  to  indicate 
propagation  from  Krakatoa.] 

2  [White's  information  may  have  been  taken  from  Sir  W.  Hamilton's  account, 
printed  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions,  vol.  Ixxiii.,  and  largely  quoted  in  the 


234  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY 

occasion  Milton's  noble  simile  of  the  sun,  in  his  first  book  of 
Paradise  Lost,  frequently  occurred  to  my  mind ;  and  it  is  indeed 
particularly  applicable,  because,  towards  the  end,  it  alludes  to  a 
superstitious  kind  of  dread,  with  which  the  minds  of  men  are 
always  impressed  by  such  strange  and  unusual  phaenomena. 

1 As  when  the  sun,  new  risen, 

'  Looks  through  the  horizontal,  misty  air, 

'  Shorn  of  his  beams  ;  or  from  behind  the  moon, 

'  In  dim  eclipse,  disastrous  twilight  sheds 

'  On  half  the  nations,  and  with/^ar  of  change. 

'  Perplexes  monarchs.1 " 


LETTER  LXVI. 

TO  THE  SAME. 

WE  are  very  seldom  annoyed  with  thunder-storms :  and  it  is  no 
less  remarkable  than  true,  that  those  which  arise  in  the  south 
have  hardly  been  known  to  reach  this  village ;  for,  before  they 
get  over  us,  they  take  a  direction  to  the  east  or  to  the  west,  or 
sometimes  divide  into  two,  and  go  in  part  to  one  of  those  quar- 
ters, and  in  part  to  the  other ;  as  was  truly  the  case  in  summer 
1783,  when,  though  the  country  round  was  continually  harassed 
with  tempests,  and  often  from  the  south,  yet  we  escaped  them 
all ;  as  appears  by  my  journal  of  that  summer.  The  only  way 
that  I  can  at  all  account  for  this  fact — for  such  it  is — is  that,  on 
that  quarter,  between  us  and  the  sea,  there  are  continual  moun- 
tains, hill  behind  hill,  such  as  Nore-hill,  the  Barnet,  Butser-hill, 
and  Ports-down,  which  some  how  divert  the  storms,  and  give 
them  a  different  direction.  High  promontories,  and  elevated 
grounds,  have  always  been  observed  to  attract  clouds  and  disarm 
them  of  their  mischievous  contents,  which  are  discharged  into 
the  trees  and  summits  as  soon  as  they  come  in  contact  with  those 
turbulent  meteors ;  while  the  humble  vales  escape,  because  they 
are  so  far  beneath  them. 

But,  when  I  say  I  do  not  remember  a  thunder-storm  from  the 
south,  I  do  not  mean  that  we  never  have  suffered  from  thunder- 
storms at  all;  for  on  June  5th,  1784,  the  thermometer  in  the 

Annual  Register  for  1783.  Hamilton  estimates  the  loss  of  life  at  40,000.  An 
"  island  just  risen  out  of  the  ocean  near  Iceland  "  is  mentioned  in  the  Gentleman  s 
Magazine  for  April,  1783,  and  in  the  Annual  Register  for  the  same  year.] 

1  [Paradise  Lost,  L,  594.] 


OF  SELBORNE  235 

morning  being  at  64,  and  at  noon  at  70,  the  barometer  at  29 — 
six  tenths  one-half,  and  the  wind  north,  I  observed  a  blue  mist, 
smelling  strongly  of  sulphur,  hanging  along  our  sloping  woods, 
and  seeming  to  indicate  that  thunder  was  at  hand.  I  was  called 
in  about  two  in  the  afternoon,  and  so  missed  seeing  the  gathering 
of  the  clouds  in  the  north ;  which  they  who  were  abroad  assured 
me  had  something  uncommon  in  it's  appearance.  At  about  a 
quarter  after  two  the  storm  began  in  the  parish  of  Hartley,  mov- 
ing slowly  from  north  to  south ;  and  from  thence  it  came  over 
Norton-farm,  and  so  to  Grange-farm,  both  in  this  parish.  It 
began  with  vast  drops  of  rain,  which  were  soon  succeeded  by 
round  hail,  and  then  by  convex  pieces  of  ice,  which  measured 
three  inches  in  girth.  Had  it  been  as  extensive  as  it  was 
violent,  and  of  any  continuance  (for  it  was  very  short),  it  must 
have  ravaged  all  the  neighbourhood.  In  the  parish  of  Hartley  it 
did  some  damage  to  one  farm  ;  but  Norton,  which  lay  in  the 
center  of  the  storm,  was  greatly  injured ;  as  was  Grange,  which 
lay  next  to  it.  It  did  but  just  reach  to  the  middle  of  the  village, 
where  the  hail  broke  my  north  windows,  and  all  my  garden- 
lights  and  hand-glasses,  and  many  of  my  neighbours'  windows. 
The  extent  of  the  storm  was  about  two  miles  in  length  and  one 
in  breadth.  We  were  just  sitting  down  to  dinner ;  but  were 
soon  diverted  from  our  repast  by  the  clattering  of  tiles  and  the 
jingling  of  glass.  There  fell  at  the  same  time  prodigious  torrents 
of  rain  on  the  farms  above-mentioned,  which  occasioned  a  flood 
as  violent  as  it  was  sudden ;  doing  great  damage  to  the  meadows 
and  fallows,  by  deluging  the  one  and  washing  away  the  soil  of 
the  other.  The  hollow  lane  towards  Alton  was  so  torn  and 
disordered  as  not  to  be  passable  till  mended,  rocks  being  re- 
moved that  weighed  200  weight.  Those  that  saw  the  effect 
which  the  great  hail  had  on  ponds  and  pools  say  that  the  dashing 
of  the  water  made  an  extraordinary  appearance,  the  froth  and 
spray  standing  up  in  the  air  three  feet  above  the  surface.  The 
rushing  and  roaring  of  the  hail,  as  it  approached,  was  truly 
tremendous. 

Though  the  clouds  at  South  Lambeth,  near  London,  were  at 
that  juncture  thin  and  light,  and  no  storm  was  in  sight,  nor 
within  hearing,  yet  the  air  was  strongly  electric  ;  for  the  bells 
of  an  electric  machine  at  that  place  rang  repeatedly,  and  fierce 
sparks  were  discharged. 

When  I  first  took  the  present  work  in  hand  I  proposed  to  have 
added  an  Annus  Historico-naturalis,  or  the  Natural  History  of  the 


236  NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  SELBORNE 

Twelve  Months  of  the  Year  ;  which  would  have  comprised  many 
incidents  and  occurrences  that  have  not  fallen  in  my  way  to  be 
mentioned  in  my  series  of  letters  ; — but,  as  Mr.  Aikin  of  War- 
rington  has  lately  published  somewhat  of  this  sort,  and  as  the 
length  of  my  correspondence  has  sufficiently  put  your  patience  to 
the  test,  I  shall  here  take  a  respectful  leave  of  you  and  natural 
history  together ; 

And  am, 

With  all  due  deference  and  regard, 
Your  most  obliged, 

And  most  humble  servant, 

GIL.  WHITE. 

Selborne,  June  25,  1787. 


THE 


ANTIQUITIES 


OF 


SELBORNE, 


IN    THE 


COUNTY  OF  SOUTHAMPTON, 


JUVAT  IRE 

DESERTOSQUE  VIDERE  LOCOS VIRGIL. 


THE 

ANTIQUITIES 

OF 

SELBORNE. 

LETTER  I. 

IT  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  in  remote  ages  this  woody  and 
mountainous  district  was  inhabited  only  by  bears  and  wolves. 
Whether  the  Britons  ever  thought  it  worthy  their  attention,  is 
not  in  our  power  to  determine ;  but  we  may  safely  conclude, 
from  circumstances,  that  it  was  not  unknown  to  the  Romans. 
Old  people  remember  to  have  heard  their  fathers  and  grand- 
fathers say  that,  in  dry  summers  and  in  windy  weather,  pieces 
of  money  were  sometimes  found  round  the  verge  of  Wolmer-pond  ; 
and  tradition  had  inspired  the  foresters  with  a  notion  that  the 
bottom  of  that  lake  contained  great  stores  of  treasure.  During 
the  spring  and  summer  of  1 740  there  was  little  rain ;  and  the 
following  summer  also,  1741,  was  so  uncommonly  dry,  that 
many  springs  and  ponds  failed,  and  this  lake  in  particular,  whose 
bed  became  as  dusty  as  the  surrounding  heaths  and  wastes. 
This  favourable  juncture  induced  some  of  the  forest -cottagers 
to  begin  a  search,  which  was  attended  with  such  success,  that 
all  the  labourers  in  the  neighbourhood  flocked  to  the  spot,  and 
with  spades  and  hoes  turned  up  great  part  of  that  large  area. 
Instead  of  pots  of  coins,  as  they  expected,  they  found  great  heaps, 
the  one  lying  on  the  other,  as  if  shot  out  of  a  bag ;  many  of 
which  were  in  good  preservation.  Silver  and  gold  these  in- 
quirers expected  to  find ;  but  their  discoveries  consisted  solely 

(239) 


240  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

of  many  hundreds  of  Roman  copper-coins,  and  some  medallions, 
all  of  the  lower  empire.  There  was  not  much  virtu  stirring  at 
that  time  in  this  neighbourhood ;  however,  some  of  the  gentry 
and  clergy  around  bought  what  pleased  them  best ;  and  some 
dozens  fell  to  the  share  of  the  author. 

The  owners  at  first  held  their  commodity  at  an  high  price  ; 
but,  finding  that  they  were  not  likely  to  meet  with  dealers  at 
such  a  rate,  they  soon  lowered  their  terms,  and  sold  the  fairest 
as  they  could.  The  coins  that  were  rejected  became  current, 
and  passed  for  farthings  at  the  petty  shops.  Of  those  that  we 
saw,  the  greater  part  were  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  and  the  Empress 
Faustina,  his  wife,  the  father  and  mother  of  Commodus.  Some 
of  Faustina  were  in  high  relief,  and  exhibited  a  very  agreeable 
set  of  features,  which  probably  resembled  that  lady,  who  was 
more  celebrated  for  her  beauty  than  for  her  virtues.  The 
medallions  in  general  were  of  a  paler  colour  than  the  coins. 
To  pretend  to  account  for  the  means  of  their  coming  to  this 
place  would  be  spending  time  in  conjecture.  The  spot,  I  think, 
could  not  be  a  Roman  camp,  because  it  is  commanded  by  hills 
on  two  sides ;  nor  does  it  shew  the  least  traces  of  entrench- 
ments ;  nor  can  I  suppose  that  it  was  a  Roman  town,  because  I 
have  too  good  an  opinion  of  the  taste  and  judgment  of  those 
polished  conquerors  to  imagine  that  they  would  settle  on  so 
barren  and  dreary  a  waste.1 


LETTER  II. 

THAT  Selborne  was  a  place  of  some  distinction  and  note  in  the 
time  of  the  Saxons  we  can  give  most  undoubted  proofs.  But, 
as  there  are  few  if  any  accounts  of  villages  before  Domesday, 
it  will  be  best  to  begin  with  that  venerable  record.  "  Ipse  rex 
"tenet  Selesburne.  Eddid  regina  tenuit,  et  nunquam  geldavit. 
"  De  isto  manerio  dono  dedit  rex  Radfredo  presbytero  dimidiam 
"  hidam  cum  ecclesia.  Tempore  regis  Edwardi  et  post,  valuit 
"  duodecim  solidos  et  sex  denarios  ;  modo  octo  solidos  et  quatuor 

1  ["  A  large  pot  of  medals  "  was  found  in  Wolmer  pond  about  1774,  the  dates 
ranging  from  Claudius  to  Commodus  (see  Letter  from  W.  Sewell  to  Gilbert 
White,  printed  in  Bell's  edition,  vol.  ii.,  p.  393).  In  digging  the  foundations  for 
Lord  Selborne's  buildings  at  Blackmoor,  and  in  planting  the  estate,  many  more 
finds  were  made,  among  others,  of  two  large  earthenware  vases  containing  about 
30,000  Roman  and  Roman-British  coins  (see  Lord  Selborne's  communication  on 
the  Roman-British  antiquities  of  Selborne,  Bell's  edition,  vol.  ii. ,  p.  378).] 


OF  SELBORNE  241 

"  denarios."  Here  we  see  that  Selborne  was  a  royal  manor ;  and 
that  Editha,  the  queen  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  had  been  lady 
of  that  manor ;  and  was  succeeded  in  it  by  the  Conqueror ;  and 
that  it  had  a  church.  Besides  these,  many  circumstances  concur 
to  prove  it  to  have  been  a  Saxon  village  ;  such  as  the  name  of 
the  place  itself,1  the  names  of  many  fields,  and  some  families,2 
with  a  variety  of  words  in  husbandry  and  common  life,  still 
subsisting  among  the  country  people. 

What  probably  first  drew  the  attention  of  the  Saxons  to  this 
spot  was  the  beautiful  spring  or  fountain  called  Well-head f  which 
induced  them  to  build  by  the  banks  of  that  perennial  current ;  for 
ancient  settlers  loved  to  reside  by  brooks  and  rivulets,  where  they 
could  dip  for  their  water  without  the  trouble  and  expense  of 
digging  wells  and  of  drawing. 

It  remains  still  unsettled  among  the  antiquaries  at  what  time 
tracts  of  land  were  first  appropriated  to  the  chase  alone  for  the 
amusement  of  the  sovereign.  Whether  our  Saxon  monarchs  had 
any  royal  forests  does  not,  I  believe,  appear  on  record ;  but  the 
Constitutiones  de  Foresta  of  Canute,  the  Dane,  are  come  down  to 
us.  We  shall  not  therefore  pretend  to  say  whether  Wolmer-forest 

1  Selesburne,  Seleburne,  Selburn,  Selbourn,  Selborne,  and  Selborn,  as  it  has  been 
variously  spelt  at  different  periods,  is  of  Saxon  derivation  ;  for  Set  signifies  great, 
and  burn  torrens,  a  brook  or  rivulet :  so  that  the  name  seems  to  be  derived  from 
the  great  perennial  stream  that  breaks  out  at  the  upper  end  of  the  village. — Sel 
also  signifies  bonus,  item,  fcecundus,fertilis.     "  bel-gaepr-tun  :  faecunda  graminis 
clausura  ;  fertile  pascuum :  a  meadow  in  the  parish  of  Godelming  is  still  called 
Sal-gars-ton."     Lye's  Saxon  Dictionary,  in  the  Supplement,  by  Mr.   Manning. 

2  Thus  the  name  of  Aldred  signifies  all-reverend,  and  that  of  Kemp  means  a 
soldier.     Thus  we  have  a  church- litton,  or  enclosure  for  dead  bodies,  and  not  a 
church-yard:   there  is  also  a  Culver-croft  near  the  Grange-farm,  being  the  en- 
closure where  the  priory  pigeon-house  stood,  from  culver  a  pigeon.     Again  there 
are  three  steep  pastures  in  this  parish  called  the  Lithe,  from  Hlithe,  clivus.     The 
wicker-work  that  binds  and  fastens  down  a  hedge  on  the  top  is  called  ether,  from 
ether  an  hedge.     When  the  good  women  call  their  hogs  they  cry  sic,  sic*  not 
knowing  that  sic  is  Saxon,  or  rather  Celtic,  for  a  hog.     Coppice  or  brush  wood  our 
countrymen  call  rise,  from  hris,  frondes  ;  and  talk  of  a  load  of  rise.     Within  the 
author's  memory  the  Saxon  plurals,  housen  a.nd  Reason,  were  in  common  use.     But 
it  would  be  endless  to  instance  in  every  circumstance :  he  that  wishes  for  more 
specimens  must  frequent  a  farmer's  kitchen.     I  have  therefore  selected  some  words 
to  show  how  familiar  the  Saxon  dialect  was  to  this  district,  since  in  more  than  seven 
hundred  years  it  is  far  from  being  obliterated. 

3  Well-head  signifies  spring-head,  and  not  a  deep  pit  from  whence  we  draw 
water.     For  particulars  about  which  see  Letter  I.  to  Mr.  Pennant. 

*2i»ca,  porcus,  apud  Lacones ;  un  Porceau  chez  les  Lactdtmoniens :  ce  mot  a 
sans  doute  este"  pris  des  Celtes,  qui  disoient  sic,  pour  marquer  un  porceau.  Encore 
aujourd'huy  quand  les  Bretons  chassent  ces  animaux,  ils  ne  disent  point  autrement, 
que  sic,  sic.  Antiquitt  de  la  Nation,  et  de  la  Langue  des  Celtes,  par  Pezron. 

16 


242  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

existed  as  a  royal  domain  before  the  conquest.  If  it  did  not,  we 
may  suppose  it  was  laid  out  by  some  of  our  earliest  Norman  kings, 
who  were  exceedingly  attached  to  the  pleasures  of  the  chase, 
and  resided  much  at  Winchester,  which  lies  at  a  moderate  distance 
from  this  district.  The  Plantagenet  princes  seem  to  have  been 
pleased  with  Wolmer ;  for  tradition  says  that  king  John  resided 
just  upon  the  verge,  at  Ward-le-ham,  on  a  regular  and  remarkable 
mount,  still  called  King  John's  Hill  and  Lodge  Hill ;  and  Edward 
III.  had  a  chapel  in  his  park,  or  enclosure,  at  Kingsley.1  Hum- 
phrey, duke  of  Gloucester,  and  Richard,  duke  of  York,  say  my 
evidences,  were  both,  in  their  turns,  wardens  of  Wolmer- forest  ; 
which  seems  to  have  served  for  an  appointment  for  the  younger 
princes  of  the  royal  family,  as  it  may  again. 

I  have  intentionally  mentioned  Edward  III.  and  the  dukes 
Humphrey  and  Richard,  before  king  Edward  II.  because  I  have 
reserved,  for  the  entertainment  of  my  readers,  a  pleasant  anecdote 
respecting  that  prince,  with  which  I  shall  close  this  letter. 

As  Edward  II.  was  hunting  on  Wolmer- forest,  Morris  Ken,  of 
the  kitchen,  fell  from  his  horse  several  times  ;  at  which  accidents 
the  king  laughed  immoderately :  and,  when  the  chase  was  over, 
ordered  him  twenty  shillings  ; 2  an  enormous  sum  for  those  days  ! 
Proper  allowances  ought  to  be  made  for  the  youth  of  this  monarch, 
whose  spirits  also,  we  may  suppose,  were  much  exhilarated  by  the 
sport  of  the  day  :  but,  at  the  same  time,  it  is  reasonable  to  remark 
that,  whatever  might  be  the  occasion  of  Ken's  first  fall,  the  sub- 
sequent ones  seem  to  have  been  designed.  The  scullion  appears 
to  have  been  an  artful  fellow,  and  to  have  seen  the  king's  foible ; 
which  furnishes  an  early  specimen  of  that  his  easy  softness  and 
facility  of  temper,  of  which  the  infamous  Gaveston  took  such 
advantages,  as  brought  innumerable  calamities  on  the  nation, 
and  involved  the  prince  at  last  in  misfortunes  and  sufferings  too 
deplorable  to  be  mentioned  without  horror  and  amazement. 

1  The  parish  of  Kingsley  lies  between,  and  divides   W aimer-forest  from  Ayles 
Holt-forest.     See  Letter  IX.  to  Mr.  Pennant. 

2  "  Item,  paid  at  the  lodge  at    Wolmer,  when  the  king  was  stag-hunting  there, 
to  Morris  Ken,  of  the  kitchen,  because  he  rode  before  the  king  and  often  fell  from 
his  horse,  at  which  the  king  laughed  exceedingly — a  gift,  by  command,  of  twenty 
shillings." — A  MS.  in  possession  of   Thomas  Astle,   esq.   containing  the  private 
expenses  of  Edward  II. 


OF  SELBORNE  243 


LETTER  III. 

FROM  the  silence  of  Domesday  respecting  churches,  it  has  been 
supposed  that  few  villages  had  any  at  the  time  when  that  record 
was  taken ;  but  Selborne,  we  see,  enjoyed  the  benefit  of  one  : 
hence  we  may  conclude,  that  this  place  was  in  no  abject  state 
even  at  that  very  distant  period.  How  many  fabrics  have 
succeeded  each  other  since  the  days  of  Radfredus  the  presbyter, 
we  cannot  pretend  to  say ;  our  business  leads  us  to  a  description 
of  the  present  edifice,  in  which  we  shall  be  circumstantial. 

Our  church,  which  was  dedicated  to  the  Firgin  Mary,  consists 
of  three  ailes,  and  measures  fifty-four  feet  in  length  by  forty- 
seven  in  breadth,  being  almost  as  broad  as  it  is  long.  The 
present  building  has  no  pretensions  to  antiquity ;  and  is,  as  I 
suppose,  of  no  earlier  date  than  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of 
Henry  VII.  It  is  perfectly  plain  and  unadorned,  without  painted 
glass,  carved  work,  sculpture,  or  tracery.  But  when  I  say  it  has 
no  claim  to  antiquity,  I  would  mean  to  be  understood  of  the  fabric 
in  general ;  for  the  pillars  which  support  the  roof,  are  undoubtedly 
old,  being  of  that  low,  squat,  thick  order,  usually  called  Saxon. 
These,  I  should  imagine,  upheld  the  roof  of  a  former  church, 
which,  falling  into  decay,  was  rebuilt  on  those  massy  props, 
because  their  strength  had  preserved  them  from  the  injuries  of 
time.1  Upon  these  rest  blunt  got  hie  arches,  such  as  prevailed  in 
the  reign  above-mentioned,  and  by  which,  as  a  criterion,  we  would 
prove  the  date  of  the  building. 

At  the  bottom  of  the  south  aile,  between  the  west  and  south 
doors,  stands  the  font,  which  is  deep  and  capacious,  and  consists 
of  three  massy  round  stones,  piled  one  on  another,  without  the 
least  ornament  or  sculpture :  the  cavity  at  the  top  is  lined  with 
lead,  and  has  a  pipe  at  bottom  to  convey  off  the  water  after  the 
sacred  ceremony  is  performed. 

The  east  end  of  the  south  aile  is  called  the  South  Chancel, 
and,  till  within  these  thirty  years,  was  divided  off  by  old  carved 
gothic  frame-work  of  timber,  having  been  a  private  chantry.  In 
this  opinion  we  are  more  confirmed  by  observing  two  gothic  niches 
within  the  space,  the  one  in  the  east  wall  and  the  other  in  the 
south,  near  which  there  probably  stood  images  and  altars. 

1  In  the  same  manner,  to  compare  great  things  with  small,  did  Wykeham,  when 
he  new-built  the  cathedral  of  Winchester,  from  the  tower  westward,  apply  to  his 
purpose  the  old  piers  or  pillars  of  Bishop  Walkelins  church,  by  blending  Saxon. 
and  Gothic  architecture  together.  See  LowtKs  Life  of  Wykeham. 


244  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

In  the  middle  aile  there  is  nothing  remarkable :  but  I  re- 
member when  it's  beams  were  hung  with  garlands  in  honour  of 
young  women  of  the  parish,  reputed  to  have  died  virgins ;  and 
recollect  to  have  seen  the  clerk's  wife  cutting,  in  white  paper,  the 
resemblances  of  gloves,  and  ribbons  to  be  twisted  into  knots  and 
roses,  to  decorate  these  memorials  of  chastity.  In  the  church  of 
Faringdon,  which  is  the  next  parish,  many  garlands  of  this  sort  still 
remain. 

The  north  aile  is  narrow  and  low,  with  a  sloping  ceiling,  reach- 
ing within  eight  or  nine  feet  of  the  floor.  It  had  originally  a  flat 
roof  covered  with  lead,  till,  within  a  century  past,  a  churchwarden, 
stripping  off  the  lead,  in  order,  as  he  said,  to  have  it  mended,  sold 
it  to  a  plumber,  and  ran  away  with  the  money.  This  aile  has  no 
door,  for  an  obvious  reason  ;  because  the  north-side  of  the  church- 
yard, being  surrounded  by  the  vicarage-garden,  affords  no  path  to 
that  side  of  the  church.  Nothing  can  be  more  irregular  than  the 
pews  of  this  church,  which  are  of  all  dimensions  and  heights,  being 
patched  up  according  to  the  fancy  of  the  owners :  but  whoever 
nicely  examines  them  will  find  that  the  middle  aile  had,  on  each 
side,  a  regular  row  of  benches  of  solid  oak,  all  alike,  with  a  low 
back-board  to  each.  These  we  should  not  hesitate  to  say  are 
coeval  with  the  present  church :  and  especially  as  it  is  to  be  ob- 
served that,  at  their  ends,  they  are  ornamented  with  carved  blunt 
gothic  niches,  exactly  correspondent  to  the  arches  of  the  church, 
and  to  a  niche  in  the  south  wall.  The  south  aile  also  has  a  row 
of  these  benches  ;  but  some  are  decayed  through  age,  and  the  rest 
much  disguised  by  modern  alterations. 

At  the  upper  end  of  this  aile,  and  running  out  to  the  north, 
stands  a  transept,  known  by  the  name  of  the  North  Chancel, 
measuring  twenty-one  feet  from  south  to  north,  and  nineteen  feet 
from  east  to  west :  this  was  intended,  no  doubt,  as  a  private 
chantry  ;  and  was  also,  till  of  late,  divided  off  by  a  gothic  frame- 
work of  timber.  In  it's  north  wall,  under  a  very  blunt  gothic  arch, 
lies  perhaps  the  founder  of  this  edifice,  which,  from  the  shape  of 
it's  arch,  may  be  deemed  no  older  than  the  latter  end  of  the  reign 
of  Henry  VII.  The  tomb  was  examined  some  years  ago,  but  con- 
tained nothing  except  the  scull  and  thigh-bones  of  a  large  tall 
man,  and  the  bones  of  a  youth  or  woman,  lying  in  a  very  irregular 
manner,  without  any  escutcheon  or  other  token  to  ascertain  the 
names  or  rank  of  the  deceased.  The  grave  was  very  shallow,  and 
lined  with  stone  at  the  bottom  and  on  the  sides.1 

1  [This  tomb  has  since  been  removed.] 


OF  SELBOKNE  245 

From  the  east  wall  project  four  stone  brackets,  which  I  conclude 
supported  images  and  crucifixes.  In  the  great  thick  pilaster,  jut- 
ting out  between  this  transept  and  the  chancel,  there  is  a  very 
sharp  gothic  niche,  of  older  date  than  the  present  chantry  or  church. 
But  the  chief  pieces  of  antiquity  are  two  narrow  stone  coffin-lids, 
which  compose  part  of  the  floor,  and  lie  from  west  to  east,  with 
the  very  narrow  ends  eastward  :  these  belong  to  remote  times ; 
and,  if  originally  placed  here,  which  I  doubt,  must  have  been  part 
of  the  pavement  of  an  older  transept.  At  present  there  are  no 
coffins  under  them,  whence  I  conclude  they  have  been  removed 
to  this  place  from  some  part  of  a  former  church.  One  of  these 
lids  is  so  eaten  by  time,  that  no  sculpture  can  be  discovered  upon 
it ;  or,  perhaps,  it  may  be  the  wrong  side  uppermost ;  but  on  the 
other,  which  seems  to  be  of  stone  of  a  closer  and  harder  texture, 
is  to  be  discerned  a  discus,  with  a  cross  on  it,  at  the  end  of  a  staff 
or  rod,  the  well-known  symbol  of  a  Knight-Templar,1 

This  order  was  distinguished  by  a  red  cross  on  the  left  shoulder 
of  their  cloak,  and  by  this  attribute  in  their  hand.  Now,  if  these 
stones  belonged  to  Knights  Templars,  they  must  have  lain  here 
many  centuries ;  for  this  order  came  into  England  early  in  the 
reign  of  king  Stephen  in  1113  ;  and  was  dissolved  in  the  time  of 
Edward  II.  in  1312,  having  subsisted  only  one  hundred  and  ninety- 
nine  years.  Why  I  should  suppose  that  Knights  Templars  were 
occasionally  buried  at  this  church,  will  appear  in  some  future  letter, 
when  we  come  to  treat  more  particularly  concerning  the  property 
they  possessed  here,  and  the  intercourse  that  subsisted  between 
them  and  the  priors  of  Selborne. 

We  must  now  proceed  to  the  chancel,  properly  so  called,  which 
seems  to  be  coeval  with  the  church,  and  is  in  the  same  plain 
unadorned  style,  though  neatly  kept.  This  room  measures 
thirty-one  feet  in  length,  and  sixteen  feet  and  an  half  in  breadth, 
and  is  wainscoted  all  round,  as  high  as  to  the  bottom  of  the 
windows.  The  space  for  the  communion  table  is  raised  two 
steps  above  the  rest  of  the  floor,  and  railed  in  with  oaken  bal- 
usters. Here  I  shall  say  somewhat  of  the  windows  of  the 
chancel  in  particular,  and  of  the  whole  fabric  in  general.  They 
are  mostly  of  that  simple  and  unadorned  sort  called  Lancet,  some 
single,  some  double,  and  some  in  triplets.  At  the  east  end  of 
the  chancel  are  two  of  a  moderate  size,  near  each  other  ;  and  in 


1See  Dugdale,  Monasticon  Anglicanum,  Vol.  II.  where  there  is  a  fine  engraving 
of  a  Knight- Templar  by  Hollar. 


246  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

the  north  wall  two  very  distant  small  ones,  unequal  in  length 
and  height :  and  in  the  south  wall  are  two,  one  on  each  side  of 
the  chancel  door,  that  are  broad  and  squat,  and  of  a  different 
order.  At  the  east  end  of  the  south  aile  of  the  church  there 
is  a  large  lancet-window  in  a  triplet ;  and  two  very  small,  narrow, 
single  ones  in  the  south  wall,  and  a  broad  squat  window  beside, 
and  a  double  lancet  one  in  the  west  end ;  so  that  the  appearance 
is  very  irregular.  In  the  north  aile  are  two  windows,  made 
shorter  when  the  roof  was  sloped ;  and  in  the  north  transept  a 
large  triple  window,  shortened  at  the  time  of  a  repair  in  1721  ; 
when  over  it  was  opened  a  round  one  of  considerable  size,  which 
affords  an  agreeable  light,  and  renders  that  chantry  the  most 
cheerful  part  of  the  edifice. 

The  church  and  chancels  have  all  coved  roofs,  ceiled  about 
the  year  1683  ;  before  which  they  were  open  to  the  tiles  and 
shingles,  showing  the  naked  rafters,  and  threatening  the  con- 
gregation with  the  fall  of  a  spar,  or  a  blow  from  a  piece  of  loose 
mortar. 

On  the  north  wall  of  the  chancel  is  fixed  a  large  oval  white 
marble  monument,  with  the  following  inscription ;  and  at  the 
foot  of  the  wall,  over  the  deceased,  and  inscribed  with  his  name, 
age,  arms,  and  time  of  death,  lies  a  large  slab  of  black  marble  : 

Prope  hunc  parietem  sepelitur 
GILBERTUS  WHITE,  SAMSONIS  WHITE,  de 

Oxon.  militis  filius  tertius,  Collegii  Magdale- 

-nensis  ibidem  alumnus,  &  socius.     Tandem  faven- 

-te  collegio  ad  hanc  ecclesiam  promotus  ;  ubi  primae- 

-va  morum  simplicitate,  et  diffusa  erga  omnes  bene- 

-volentia  feliciter  consenuit. 
Pastor  fidelis,  comis,  affabilis, 
Maritus,  et  pater  amantissimus, 
A  conjuge  invicem,  et  liberis,  atque 
A  parochianis  impense  dilectus. 
Pauperibus  ita  beneficus 
ut  decimam  partem  census 

moribundus 
piis  usibus  consecravit. 
Meritis  demum  juxta  et  annis  plenus 
ex  hac  vita  migravit  Feb.  13°. 

anno  salutis  1725 
^Etatis  suse  77. 
Hoc  posuit  Rebecca 
Conjux  illius  maestissima, 
mox  secutura. 

On  the  same  wall  is  newly  fixed  a  small  square  table-monu- 
ment of  white  marble,  inscribed  in  the  following  manner, 


OF  SELBOENE  247 

Sacred  to  the  memory 

of  the  Rev*.  ANDREW  ETTY,  B.  D. 

23  Years  Vicar  of  this  parish  : 

In  whose  character 
The  conjugal,  the  parental,  and  the  sacerdotal  virtues 

were  so  happily  combined 

as  to  deserve  the  imitation  of  mankind. 

And  if  in  any  particular  he  followed  more  invariably 

the  steps  of  his  blessed  Master, 

It  was  in  his  humility. 

His  parishioners, 

especially  the  sick  and  necessitous, 
as  long  as  any  traces  of  his  memory  shall  remain, 

must  lament  his  death. 

To  perpetuate  such  an  example,  this  stone  is  erected ; 
as  while  living  he  was  a  preacher  of  righteousness, 

so,  by  it,  he  being  dead  yet  speaketh. 
He  died  April  8th.  1784.     Aged  66  years.1 

1  [It  was  not  until  long  after  the  Antiquities  of  Selborne  was  written,  that  any 
knowledge  of  ecclesiastical  architecture  became  general ;  and  the  account  of  Selborne 
church  in  the  text  is  a  remarkable  proof  of  the  ignorance  which  at  that  time  prevailed 
both  with  regard  to  the  principles  of  church-building,  and  the  details  in  which  those 
principles  were  developed.  The  church  at  Selborne  still  retains  a  large  portion  of 
the  original  structure,  and  exhibits  an  interesting  and  consistent  example  of  the 
architecture  of  the  period  of  its  erection,  which  is  sufficiently  marked  to  preclude 
any  considerable  error.  The  arches,  the  pillars  with  their  bases  and  capitals,  the 
windows  which  remain,  and  other  details,  point  to  the  close  of  the  iath  or  the 
beginning  of  the  i3th  century,  and  the  reign  of  Henry  III.  as  the  true  date  of  the 
present  structure,  which  is  therefore  of  the  Early  English  period,  just  as  the  Norman 
style  was  becoming  extinct.  I  can  find  no  traces  of  an  earlier  building  remaining, 
although  it  is  very  clear  that  at  the  time  when  Domesday  book  was  composed  there 
was  a  church  here. 

The  pillars  of  the  nave  are  of  that  simple  and  massive  form  which  belongs  to 
the  transition  from  the  Norman  to  the  Early  English  style.  The  base  of  the  pillars 
is  a  simple  square  plinth  with  round  mouldings,  on  which  rests  the  massive  body  of 
the  pillar,  the  diameter  of  which  is  2  ft.  7  in. ,  and  its  height  from  base  to  capital 
5  ft.  7  in.  The  capital  is  square,  plain  and  bold  ;  and  from  it  springs  a  nearly 
equilateral  pointed  arch  of  10  ft.  span.  There  is  still  remaining  in  the  south  wall 
to  the  west  of  the  doorway  a  single  well-proportioned  lancet  window  ;  and  there  is 
a  double  one  of  nearly  similar  proportions  in  the  west  wall.  The  south  aisle  termin- 
ates eastward  in  what  was  a  chapel,  dedicated  probably  to  the  tutelar  saint  of  the 
church,  with  a  fine  well-proportioned  triplet  window,  to  the  left  of  which  is  a 
handsome  niche,  which  doubtless  contained  a  figure  of  the  saint ;  and  on  its  base 
is  a  neat  strip  of  diaper-work.  In  the  south  wall  of  this  chantry  is  a  piscina  be- 
longing to  the  altar  of  the  chapel.  Of  this  piscina  Gilbert  White  makes  the  curious 
mistake  of  supposing  that  it  formerly  held  a  statue  of  some  saint.  Although  all 
traces  of  a  screen  separating  this  chancel  from  the  aisle  have  long  since  disappeared, 
yet  its  boundary  is  very  clearly  indicated  by  a  stone  step  which  raises  it  a  few  inches 
above  the  level  of  the  aisle.  The  string-course,  extending  along  the  east,  south, 
and  west  walls  of  the  south  aisle,  is  simple  and  very  perfect.  The  mouldings  of 
the  south  doorway  are  very  beautiful  and  nearly  perfect.  The  door  itself  is  solid, 
and  the  hinges  of  a  good  but  not  elaborate  pattern.  The  north  transept,  described 
in  the  text,  is  evidently  more  recent  than  the  body  of  the  church.  Of  the  four 
brackets  mentioned,  three  are  similar  in  form,  the  centre  one  being  placed  higher 
than  the  others.  These  certainly  supported  figures.  The  fourth  bracket  has  no 
relation  to  the  others,  is  placed  nearer  to  the  chancel,  and  is  of  ruder  form.  In 


248  THE  ANTIQUITIES 


LETTER  IV. 

WE  have  now  taken  leave  of  the  inside  of  the  church,  and  shall 
pass  by  a  door  at  the  west  end  of  the  middle  aile  into  the  belfry. 
This  room  is  part  of  a  handsome  square  embattled  tower  of  forty- 
five  feet  in  height,  and  of  much  more  modern  date  than  the 
church ;  but  old  enough  to  have  needed  a  thorough  repair  in 
1781,  when  it  was  neatly  stuccoed  at  a  considerable  expense,  by 
a  set  of  workmen  who  were  employed  on  it  for  the  greatest  part 
of  the  summer.  The  old  bells,  three  in  number,  loud  and  out  of 
tune,  were  taken  down  in  1735,  and  cast  into  four ;  to  which  Sir 
Simeon  Stuart,  the  grandfather  of  the  present  baronet,  added  a 
fifth  at  his  own  expense  :  and,  bestowing  it  in  the  name  of  his 
favourite  daughter  Mrs.  Mary  Stuart,  caused  it  to  be  cast  with 
the  following  motto  round  it : 

"  Clara  puella  dedit,  dixitque  mihi  esto  Maria  : 
"  Illius  et  laudes  nomen  ad  astra  sono." 

The  day  of  the  arrival  of  this  tuneable  peal  was  observed  as  an 
high  festival  by  the  village,  and  rendered  more  joyous,  by  an  order 
from  the  donor,  that  the  treble-bell  should  be  fixed  bottom  upward 
in  the  ground,  and  filled  with  punch,  of  which  all  present  were 
permitted  to  partake. 

The  porch  of  the  church,  to  the  south,  is  modern,  and  would 
not  be  worthy  attention  did  it  not  shelter  a  fine  sharp  gothic  door- 
way. This  is  undoubtedly  much  older  than  the  present  fabric ; 
and,  being  found  in  good  preservation,  was  worked  into  the  wall, 
and  is  the  grand  entrance  into  the  church :  nor  are  the  folding- 
doors  to  be  passed  over  in  silence ;  since,  from  their  thick  and 
clumsy  structure,  and  the  rude  flourished-work  of  their  hinges, 
they  may  possibly  be  as  ancient  as  the  door-way  itself. 

the  wall  between  the  transept  and  the  chancel  there  is  the  appearance  of  a  small 
door  having  formerly  existed,  which  from  its  position  must  have  formed  the 
entrance  to  the  rood-loft ;  and  I  think  it  possible  that  the  fourth  bracket  may 
have  supported  the  stairs  which  led  to  it.  There  is  a  good  piscina  belonging 
to  this  transept-chantry,  of  later  character  than  that  in  the  south  wall.  In  the 
north  wall  of  the  transept  are  the  remains  of  a  large  window  of  three  lights,  the 
mullions  of  which  show  it  to  be  of  a  later  date  than  the  church,  probably  towards 
the  latter  part  of  the  century.  This  fine  window  has  been  curtailed  of  its  fair  pro- 
portions by  the  bottom  of  it  being  blocked  up,  and  the  whole  upper  part  being  cut 
off  by  a  heavy  beam  carried  quite  across  the  wall,  above  which  is  a  hideous  circular 
window.  The  chancel  of  the  church  itself  retains  very  little  of  its  original  features, 
and  has  no  remains  of  a  piscina  or  any  other  adjuncts  of  an  altar  ;  but  there  is  in 
the  north  wall  a  small  lancet  window,  and  another  in  the  vestry. — Bell.'} 


OF  SELBORNE  249 

The  whole  roof  of  the  south  aile,  and  the  south-side  of  the 
roof  of  the  middle  aile,  is  covered  with  oaken  shingles  instead 
of  tiles,  on  account  of  their  lightness,  which  favours  the  ancient 
and  crazy  timber-frame.  And,  indeed,  the  consideration  of  acci- 
dents by  fire  excepted,  this  sort  of  roofing  is  much  more  eligible 
than  tiles.  For  shingles  well  seasoned,  and  cleft  from  quartered 
timber,  never  warp,  nor  let  in  drifting  snow ;  nor  do  they  shiver 
with  frost ;  nor  are  they  liable  to  be  blown  off,  like  tiles ;  but, 
when  well  nailed  down,  last  for  a  long  period,  as  experience  has 
shown  us  in  this  place,  where  those  that  face  to  the  north  are 
known  to  have  endured,  untouched,  by  undoubted  tradition  for 
more  than  a  century. 

Considering  the  size  of  the  church,  and  the  extent  of  the  parish, 
the  church-yard  is  very  scanty ;  and  especially  as  all  wish  to  be 
buried  on  the  south-side,  which  is  become  such  a  mass  of  mortality 
that  no  person  can  be  there  interred  without  disturbing  or  dis- 
placing the  bones  of  his  ancestors.  There  is  reason  to  suppose 
that  it  once  was  larger,  and  extended  to  what  is  now  the  vicarage 
court  and  garden  ;  because  many  human  bones  have  been  dug  up 
in  those  parts  several  yards  without  the  present  limits.  At  the 
east  end  are  a  few  graves  ;  yet  none  till  very  lately  on  the  north- 
side  ;  but,  as  two  or  three  families  of  best  repute  have  begun  to 
bury  in  that  quarter,  prejudice  may  wear  out  by  degrees,  and 
their  example  be  followed  by  the  rest  of  the  neighbourhood. 

In  speaking  of  the  church,  I  have  all  along  talked  of  the  east 
and  west-end,  as  if  the  chancel  stood  exactly  true  to  those  points 
of  the  compass ;  but  this  is  by  no  means  the  case,  for  the  fabric 
bears  so  much  to  the  north  of  the  east  that  the  four  corners  of 
the  tower,  and  not  the  four  sides,  stand  to  the  four  cardinal  points. 
The  best  method  of  accounting  for  this  deviation  seems  to  be, 
that  the  workmen,  who  probably  were  employed  in  the  longest 
days,  endeavoured  to  set  the  chancels  to  the  rising  of  the  sun. 

Close  by  the  church,  at  the  west  end,  stands  the  vicarage- 
house  ;  an  old,  but  roomy  and  convenient  edifice.  It  faces  very 
agreeably  to  the  morning  sun,  and  is  divided  from  the  village  by 
a  neat  and  cheerful  court.  According  to  the  manner  of  old  times, 
the  hall  was  open  to  the  roof ;  and  so  continued  probably,  till  the 
vicars  became  family-men,  and  began  to  want  more  conveniences  ; 
when  they  flung  a  floor  across,  and,  by  partitions,  divided  the 
space  into  chambers.  In  this  hall  we  remember  a  date,  some 
time  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  ;  it  was  over  the  door  that  leads  to 
the  stairs. 


250  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

Behind  the  house  is  a  garden  of  an  irregular  shape,  but  well 
laid  out ;  whose  terrace  commands  so  romantic  and  picturesque 
a  prospect,  that  the  first  master  in  landscape  might  contemplate 
it  with  pleasure,  and  deem  it  an  object  well  worthy  of  his  pencil. 


LETTER  V. 

IN  the  church-yard  of  this  village  is  a  yew-tree,  whose  aspect 
bespeaks  it  to  be  of  a  great  age :  it  seems  to  have  seen  several 
centuries,  and  is  probably  coeval  with  the  church,  and  therefore 
may  be  deemed  an  antiquity :  the  body  is  squat,  short,  and 
thick,  and  measures  twenty-three  feet  in  the  girth,  supporting 
an  head  of  suitable  extent  to  it's  bulk.  This  is  a  male  tree, 
which  in  the  spring  sheds  clouds  of  dust,  and  fills  the  atmosphere 
around  with  it's  farina. 

As  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  observe,  the  males  of  this 
species  become  much  larger  than  the  females  ;  and  it  has  so 
fallen  out  that  most  of  the  yew-trees  in  the  churchyards  of  this 
neighbourhood  are  males  :  but  this  must  have  been  matter  of 
mere  accident,  since  men,  when  they  first  planted  yews,  little 
dreamed  that  there  were  sexes  in  trees. 

In  a  yard,  in  the  midst  of  the  street,  till  very  lately  grew  a 
middle-sized  female  tree  of  the  same  species,  which  commonly 
bore  great  crops  of  berries.  By  the  high  winds  usually  prevailing 
about  the  autumnal  equinox,  these  berries,  then  ripe,  were  blown 
down  into  the  road,  where  the  hogs  ate  them.  And  it  was  very 
remarkable,  that,  though  barrow-hogs  and  young  sows  found  no 
inconvenience  from  this  food,  yet  milch-sows  often  died  after 
such  a  repast :  a  circumstance  that  can  be  accounted  for  only  by 
supposing  that  the  latter,  being  much  exhausted  and  hungry, 
devoured  a  larger  quantity. 

^  While  mention  is  making  of  the  bad  effects  of  yew-berries,  lit 
may  be  proper  to  remind  the  unwary  that  the  twigs  and  leaves 
of  yew,  though  eaten  in  a  very  small  quantity,  are  certain  death 
to  horses  and  cows,  and  that  in  a  few  minutes.  An  horse  tied 
to  a  yew-hedge,  or  to  a  faggot-stack  of  dead  yew,  shall  be  found 
dead  before  the  owner  can  be  aware  that  any  danger  is  at  hand  : 
and  the  writer  has  been  several  times  a  sorrowful  witness  to  losses 
of  this  kind  among  his  friends  ;  and  in  the  island  of  Ely  had  once 
the  mortification  to  see  nine  young  steers  or  bullocks  of  his  own 
all  lying  dead  in  an  heap  from  browzing  a  little  on  an  hedge  of 


OF  SELBORNE  251 

yew  in  an  old  garden,  into  which  they  had  broken  in  snowy 
weather.1  Even  the  clippings  of  a  yew-hedge  have  destroyed  a 
whole  dairy  of  cows  when  thrown  inadvertently  into  a  yard. 
And  yet  sheep  and  turkies,  and,  as  park-keepers  say,  deer,  will 
crop  these  trees  with  impunity. 

Some  intelligent  persons  assert  that  the  branches  of  yew,  while 
green,  are  not  noxious  ;  and  that  they  will  kill  only  when  dead 
and  withered,  by  lacerating  the  stomach  :  but  to  this  assertion  we 
cannot  by  any  means  assent,  because,  among  the  number  of  cattle 
that  we  have  known  fall  victims  to  this  deadly  food,  not  one  has 
been  found,  when  it  was  opened,  but  had  a  lump  of  green  yew  in 
it's  paunch.  True  it  is,  that  yew-trees  stand  for  twenty  years  or 
more  in  a  field,  and  no  bad  consequences  ensue :  but  at  some 
time  or  other  cattle,  either  from  wantonness  when  full,  or  from 
hunger  when  empty,  (from  both  which  circumstances  we  have 
seen  them  perish),  will  be  meddling,  to  their  certain  destruction ; 
the  yew  seems  to  be  a  very  improper  tree  for  a  pasture-field. 

Antiquaries  seem  much  at  a  loss  to  determine  at  what  period 
this  tree  first  obtained  a  place  in  church-yards.  A  statute  passed 
A.D.  1307  and  35  Edward  I.  the  title  of  which  is  "  Ne  rector 
arbores  in  cemeterio  prosternat ".  Now  if  it  is  recollected  that  we 
seldom  see  any  other  very  large  or  ancient  tree  in  a  church-yard 
but  yews,  this  statute  must  have  principally  related  to  this  species 
of  tree  ;  and  consequently  their  being  planted  in  church-yards  is 
of  much  more  ancient  date  than  the  year  1 307. 

As  to  the  use  of  these  trees,  possibly  the  more  respectable 
parishioners  were  buried  under  their  shade  before  the  improper 
custom  was  introduced  of  burying  within  the  body  of  the  church, 
where  the  living  are  to  assemble.  Deborah,  Rebekak's  nurse,2  was 
buried  under  an  oak  ;  the  most  honourable  place  of  interment 
probably  next  to  the  cave  of  Machpelah,3  which  seems  to  have 
been  appropriated  to  the  remains  of  the  patriarchal  family  alone. 

The  farther  use  of  yew-trees  might  be  as  a  screen  to  churches, 
by  their  thick  foliage,  from  the  violence  of  winds ;  perhaps  also 
for  the  purpose  of  archery,  the  best  long  bows  being  made  of  that 
material :  and  we  do  not  hear  that  they  are  planted  in  the  church- 
yards of  other  parts  of  Europe,  where  long  bows  were  not  so  much 
in  use.  They  might  also  be  placed  as  a  shelter  to  the  congrega- 
tion assembling  before  the  church-doors  were  opened,  and  as  an 

1  [This  was  in  1746,  when  Gilbert  White  had  gone  to  Thorney  as  executor  to  an 
uncle  Thomas,  whose  property  was  left  to  Gilbert's  brother  Thomas.] 

2  Gen.  xxxv,  8.  3  Gen.  xxiii,  9. 


252  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

emblem  of  mortality  by  their  funereal  appearance.  In  the  south 
of  England  every  church-yard  almost  has  it's  tree,  and  some  two ; 
but  in  the  north,  we  understand,  few  are  to  be  found. 

The  idea  of  R.  C.  that  the  yew-tree  afforded  it's  branches  instead 
of  palms  for  the  processions  on  Palm-Sunday,  is  a  good  one,  and 
deserves  attention.  See  Gent.  Mag.  Vol.  L.  p.  128. 


LETTER  VI. 

THE  living  of  Selborne  was  a  very  small  vicarage  ;  but,  being  in 
the  patronage  of  Magdalen-college,  in  the  university  of  Oxford, 
that  society  endowed  it  with  the  great  tithes  of  Selborne,  more 
than  a  century  ago  :  and  since  the  year  1758  again  with  the  great 
tithes  of  Oakhanger,  called  Bene's  parsonage :  so  that,  together,  it 
is  become  a  respectable  piece  of  preferment,  to  which  one  of  the 
fellows  is  always  presented.  The  vicar  holds  the  great  tithes,  by 
lease,  under  the  college.  The  great  disadvantage  of  this  living  is, 
that  it  has  not  one  foot  of  glebe  near  home.1 

ITS    PAYMENTS    ARE,  «£       S.       d. 

King's  books              —             —  —             —  821 

Yearly  tenths  —  0  16     2j 

Yearly  procurations  for  Blackmore  and   Oakhanger  1    A     i      7 

Chap  :  with  acquit :  —  j 

Selborne  procurations  and  acquit :  —  090 

I  am  unable  to  give  a  complete  list  of  the  vicars  of  this  parish 
till  towards  the  end  of  the  reign  of  queen  Elizabeth ;  from  which 
period  the  registers  furnish  a  regular  series. 

In  Domesday  we  find  thus — "  De  isto  manerio  dono  dedit  Rex 
"  Radfredo  presbytero  dimidiam  hidam  cum  ecclesia."  So  that 
before  Domesday,  which  was  compiled  between  the  years  1081 
and  1086,  there2  was  an  officiating  minister  at  this  place. 

After  this,  among  my  documents,  I  find  occasional  mention  of 
a  vicar  here  and  there  :  the  first  is 

Roger,  instituted  in  1 254. 

In  1410  John  L,ynne  was  vicar  of  Selborne. 

In  1411  Hugo  Tybbe  was  vicar. 

1  At  Bene's,  or  Bin's  parsonage  there  is  a  house  and  stout  barn,  and  seven  acres 
of  glebe.    Bene's  parsonage  is  three  miles  from  the  church. 
*[Here  in  orig.j 


OF  SELBORNE  253 

The  presentations  to  the  vicarage  of  Selborne  generally  ran  in 
the  name  of  the  prior  and  the  convent ;  but  Tybbe  was  presented 
by  prior  John  Wynechestre  only. 

June  29,  1528,  William  Fisher,  vicar  of  Selborne,  resigned  to 
Miles  Peyrson. 

1594,  *  William  White  appears  to  have  been  vicar  to  this  time. 
Of  this  person  there  is  nothing  remarkable,  but  that  he  hath  made 
a  regular  entry  twice  in  the  register  of  Selborne  of  the  funeral  of 
Thomas  Cowper,  bishop  of  Winchester,  as  if  he  had  been  buried  at 
Selborne ;  yet  this  learned  prelate,  who  died  1 594,  was  buried  at 
Winchester,  in  the  cathedral,  near  the  episcopal  throne.1 

1595,  Richard  Boughton,  vicar. 

1596,  William  Inkforbye,  vicar. 
May  1606,  Thomas  Phippes,  vicar. 
June  1631,  Ralph  Ausline,  vicar. 

July  1632,  John  Longrvorth.  This  unfortunate  gentleman,  living 
in  the  time  of  CromwelFs  usurpation,  was  deprived  of  his  prefer- 
ment for  many  years,  probably  because  he  would  not  take  the 
league  and  covenant :  for  I  observe  that  his  father-in-law,  the 
Reverend  Jethro  Beal,  rector  of  Faringdon,  which  is  the  next 
parish,  enjoyed  his  benefice  during  the  whole  of  that  unhappy 
period.  Longrvorth,  after  he  was  dispossessed,  retired  to  a  little 
tenement  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  from  the  church,  where 
he  earned  a  small  pittance  by  the  practice  of  physic.  During 
those  dismal  times  it  was  not  uncommon  for  the  deposed  clergy 
to  take  up  a  medical  character ;  as  was  the  case  in  particular,  I 
know,  with  the  Reverend  Mr.  Yalden,  rector  of  Campion,  near 
Guildford,  in  the  county  of  Surrey.  Vicar  Longrvorth  used  fre- 
quently to  mention  to  his  sons,  who  told  it  to  my  relations,  that,  the 
Sunday  after  his  deprivation,  his  puritanical  successor2  stepped  into 

1  See  Godwin  de  praesulibus,  folio  Cant.  1743,  page  239. 

2  [John  Ferrol,  M.  A. ,  Fellow  of  Magdalen  College,  Oxford.    That  the  interloper 
had  his  turn  of  persecution  on  the  change  of  Government  appears  from  the  follow- 
ing account   taken  from   Calamy's   Nonconformists'    Memorial: — "He  was  an 
humble,  peaceable,  laborious  divine ;  prudent  and  inoffensive  in  his  conduct.     Of 
an  healthful  constitution,  and  of  a  meek  and  even  temper,  not  much  resenting  the 
injuries  of  his  adversaries.     He  was  of  an  active  disposition,  and,  being  a  noted 
botanist  and  herbalist,  made  his  garden  his  diversion  when  his  labouring  mind  called 
for  a  relaxation  from  his  studies.     Upon  Mr.   L(ongworth)'s  sequestration  he  was 
settled  in  his  place  ;  but  after  the  Restoration  he  was  advised  to  resign  his  living  to 
the  former  incumbent,  which  he  accordingly  did,  and  then  retired  to  Guildford,  in 
Surrey,  where  he  kept  boarders  who  went  to  the  free  school.     When  the  corporation 
oath  was  imposed,  not  being  satisfied  to  take  it,  he  removed  to  Farnham.     On 
January  14,  1669,  he  was  taken  up  near  Godalming,  and  sent  to  the  Marshalsea  in 
Southwark,  for  having  been  found  within  five  miles  of  the  corporation  of  Guildford 


254  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

the  pulpit  with  no  small  petulance  and  exultation  ;  and  began  his 
sermon  from  Psalm  xx.  8.  "  They  are  brought  down  and  fallen  ; 
"  but  we  are  risen  and  stand  upright."  This  person  lived  to  be  re- 
stored in  1 660,  and  continued  vicar  for  eighteen  years  ;  but  was  so 
impoverished  by  his  misfortunes,  that  he  left  the  vicarage-house 
and  premises  in  a  very  abject  and  dilapidated  state. 

July  1678.  Richard  Bitfield,  who  left  eighty  pounds  by  will, 
the  interest  to  be  applied  to  apprentice  out  poor  children :  but 
this  money,  lent  on  private  security,  was  in  danger  of  being  lost, 
and  the  bequest  remained  in  an  unsettled  state  for  near  twenty 
years,  till  1700 ;  so  that  little  or  no  advantage  was  derived  from 
it.  About  the  year  1759  it  was  again  in  the  utmost  danger  by  the 
failure  of  a  borrower  ;  but,  by  prudent  management,  has  since  been 
raised  to  one  hundred  pounds  stock  in  the  three  per  cents  reduced. 
The  trustees  are  the  vicar  and  the  renters  or  owners  of  Temple, 
Priory,  Grange,  Blackmore,  and  Oakhanger-house,  for  the  time  being. 
This  gentleman  seemed  inclined  to  have  put  the  vicarial  premises 
in  a  comfortable  state  ;  and  began,  by  building  a  solid  stone  wall 
round  the  front-court,  and  another  in  the  lower  yard,  between 
that  and  the  neighbouring  garden ;  but  was  interrupted  by  death 
from  fulfilling  his  laudable  intentions. 

April  1680,  Barnabas  Long  became  vicar. 

June  1681.  This  living  was  now  in  such  low  estimation  in 
Magdalen-college,  that  it  descended  to  a  junior  fellow,  Gilbert 
White,  M.A.1  who  was  instituted  to  it  in  the  thirty-first  year  of 
his  age.  At  his  first  coming  he  ceiled  the  chancel,  and  also  floored 
and  wainscoted  the  parlour  and  hall,  which  before  were  paved 
with  stone,  and  had  naked  walls ;  he  enlarged  the  kitchen  and 
brewhouse,  and  dug  a  cellar  and  well :  he  also  built  a  large  new 
barn  in  the  lower  yard,  removed  the  hovels  in  the  front  court, 
which  he  laid  out  in  walks  and  borders  ;  and  entirely  planned 
the  back  garden,  before  a  rude  field  with  a  stone-pit  in  the  midst 
of  it.  By  his  will  he  gave  and  bequeathed  "  the  sum  of  forty 

and  Godalming,  and  also  for  preaching  at  Godalming.  He  continued  six  months 
in  prison,  and  sometimes  said  that  this  was  one  of  the  most  comfortable  parts  of  his 
life,  through  the  kindness  of  friends  whom  God  raised  up  to  administer  relief  to  him 
in  his  troubles."  It  appears  that  Bishop  Morley  was  very  kind  to  him,  and  certainly 
Ferrol  was  no  bigot,  as  ' '  his  custom  was  to  go  to  the  public  church  as  his  people 
also  did".  After  some  changes  of  residence  he  finally  "retired  to  Lymington,  in 
Hampshire,  where  he  was  not  idle,  but  preached  frequently  .  .  .  till  by  a  gentle 
decay,  the  candle  of  life  burning  down  to  the  socket,  he  expired,  not  with  a  stink, 
but  a  sweet  savour  ...  in  the  Both  year  of  his  age." — /te//.] 

1  The  author's  grandfather  and  godfather. 


OF  SELBOENE  255 

"pounds  to  be  laid  out  in  the  most  necessary  repairs  of  the 
"  church  ;  that  is,  in  strengthening  and  securing  such  parts  as 
"seem  decaying  and  dangerous".  With  this  sum  two  large 
buttresses  were  erected  to  support  the  east  end  of  the  south  wall 
of  the  church  ;  and  the  gable-end  wall  of  the  west  end  of  the  south 
aile  was  new  built  from  the  ground. 

By  his  will  also  he  gave  "One   hundred  pounds  to  be  laid 

"  out  on  lands  ;  the  yearly  rents  whereof  shall  be  employed  in 

f  teaching  the  poor  children  of  Selbourn  parish  to  read  and  write, 

'  and  say  their  prayers  and  catechism,  and  to  sew  and  knit : — and 

'  be  under  the  direction  of  his  executrix  as  long  as  she  lives ; 

'and,  after  her,  under  the  direction  of  such  of  his  children  and 

'  their  issue,   as   shall  live  in  or  within  five   miles  of  the  said 

"  parish :   and  on  failure  of  any  such,  then  under  the  direction 

"  of  the  vicar  of  Selbourn  for  the  time  being ;  but  still  to  the 

"  uses  above-named  ".     With  this  sum  was  purchased,  of  Thomas 

Turville,  of  Hawkeley,  in  the  county  of  Southampton,  yeoman,  and 

Hannah  his  wife,  two  closes  of  freehold  land,  commonly  called 

Collier's,  containing,  by  estimation,  eleven  acres,  lying  in  Hawkeley 

aforesaid.     These  closes  are  let  at  this  time,  1785,  on  lease,  at 

the  rate  of  three  pounds  by  the  year. 

This  vicar  also  gave  by  will  two  hundred  pounds  towards  the 
repairs  of  the  highways1  in  the  parish  of  Selborne.  That  sum 
was  carefully  and  judiciously  laid  out  in  the  summer  of  the  year 
1730,  by  his  son  John  White,2  who  made  a  solid  and  firm  causey 
from  Rood-green,  all  down  Honey- lane,  to  a  farm  called  Oak-woods, 
where  the  sandy  soil  begins.  This  miry  and  gulfy  lane  was 
chosen  as  worthy  of  repair,  because  it  leads  to  the  forest,  and 
thence  through  the  Holt  to  the  town  of  Farnham  in  Surrey,  the 
only  market  in  those  days  for  men  who  had  wheat  to  sell  in  this 
neighbourhood.  This  causey  was  so  deeply  bedded  with  stone, 
so  properly  raised  above  the  level  of  the  soil,  and  so  well  drained, 
that  it  has,  in  some  degree,  withstood  fifty-four  years  of  neglect 
and  abuse ;  and  might,  with  moderate  attention,  be  rendered  a 
solid  and  comfortable  road.  The  space  from  Rood-green  to  Oak- 
woods  measures  about  three  quarters  of  a  mile. 

In  1727,  William  Henry  Cane,  B.D.  became  vicar;  and,  among 
several  alterations  and  repairs,  new-built  the  back  front  of  the 
vicarage-house. 

1  "Such  legacies  were  very  common  in  former  times,  before  any  effectual  laws 
were  made  for  the  repairs  of  highways."     Sir  John  Cullum's  Hawsted,  p.  15. 

2  [Father  of  Gilbert  White.] 


256  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

On  February  I,  1740,  Duncombe  Bristowe,  D.D.  was  instituted 
to  this  living.  What  benefactions  this  vicar  bestowed  on  the 
parish  will  be  best  explained  by  the  following  passages  from  his 
will : — "Item,  I  hereby  give  and  bequeath  to  the  minister  and 
"  churchwardens  of  the  parish  of  Selboum,  in  the  county  of  South- 
"  ampton,  a  mahogany  table,  which  I  have  ordered  to  be  made 
"  for  the  celebration  of  the  Holy  Communion ;  and  also  the  sum 
"  of  thirty  pounds,  in  trust,  to  be  applied  in  manner  following ; 
"  that  is,  ten  pounds  towards  the  charge  of  erecting  a  gallery  at 
"  the  west  end  of  the  church  ;  and  ten  pounds  to  be  laid  out  for 
"  cloathing,  and  such  like  necessaries,  among  the  poor  (and  es- 
"  pecially  among  the  ancient  and  infirm)  of  the  said  parish  :  and 
"  the  remaining  ten  pounds  to  be  distributed  in  bread,  at  twenty 
"  shillings  a  week,  at  the  discretion  of  John  White,  esq.  or  any  of 
"  his  family,  who  shall  be  resident  in  the  said  parish." 

On  November  12,  1758,  Andrew  Etty,  B.D.  became  vicar. 
Among  many  useful  repairs  he  new-roofed  the  body  of  the 
vicarage-house ;  and  wainscoted,  up  to  the  bottom  of  the  win- 
dows, the  whole  of  the  chancel ;  to  the  neatness  and  decency  of 
which  he  always  paid  the  most  exact  attention. 

On  September  25,  1784,  Christopher  Taylor,  B.D.  was  inducted 
into  the  vicarage  of  Selborne. 


LETTER  VII. 

I  SHALL  now  proceed  to  the  Priory,  which  is  undoubtedly  the 
most  interesting  part  of  our  history. 

The  Priory  of  Selborne  was  founded  by  Peter  de  la  Roche,  or  de 
Rupibus,1  one  of  those  accomplished  foreigners  that  resorted  to 
the  court  of  king  John,  where  they  were  usually  caressed,  and 
met  with  a  more  favourable  reception  than  ought,  in  prudence, 
to  have  been  shown  by  any  monarch  to  strangers.  This  adventurer 
was  a  Poictevin  by  birth,  had  been  bred  to  arms  in  his  youth,  and 
distinguished  by  knighthood.  Historians  all  agree  not  to  speak 
very  favourably  of  this  remarkable  man ;  they  allow  that  he  was 
possessed  of  courage  and  fine  abilities,  but  then  they  charge  him 
with  arbitrary  principles,  and  violent  conduct.  By  his  insinuat- 
ing manners  he  soon  rose  high  in  the  favour  of  John;  and  in 
1205,  early  in  the  reign  of  that  prince,  was  appointed  bishop  of 

1  See  Godwin  de  Praesulibus  Angliae.     Folio.     London,  1743,  P-  2I7- 


OF  SELBOENE  257 

Winchester.  In  1214  he  became  lord  chief  justiciary  of  England, 
the  first  magistrate  in  the  state,  and  a  kind  of  viceroy,  on  whom 
depended  all  the  civil  affairs  in  the  kingdom.  After  the  death 
of  John,  and  during  the  minority  of  his  son  Henry,  this  prelate 
took  upon  him  the  entire  management  of  the  realm,  and  was 
soon  appointed  protector  of  the  king  and  kingdom. 

The  barons  saw  with  indignation  a  stranger  possessed  of  all 
the  power  and  influence,  to  part  of  which  they  thought  they  had 
a  claim ;  they  therefore  entered  into  an  association  against  him, 
and  determined  to  wrest  some  of  that  authority  from  him  which 
he  had  so  unreasonably  usurped.  The  bishop  discerned  the 
storm  at  a  distance  ;  and,  prudently  resolving  to  give  way  to  that 
torrent  of  envy  which  he  knew  not  how  to  withstand,  withdrew 
quietly  to  the  Holy  Land,  where  he  resided  some  time. 

At  this  juncture  a  very  small  part  of  Palestine  remained  in  the 
hands  of  the  Christians  :  they  had  been  by  Saladine  dispossessed 
of  Jerusalem,  and  all  the  internal  parts,  near  forty  years  before ; 
and  with  difficulty  maintained  some  maritime  towns  and  garrisons  : 
yet  the  busy  and  enterprising  spirit  of  de  Rupibus  could  not  be  at 
rest ;  he  distinguished  himself  by  the  splendour  and  magnificence 
of  his  expenses,  and  amused  his  mind  by  strengthening  for- 
tresses and  castles,  and  by  removing  and  endowing  of  churches. 
Before  his  expedition  to  the  east  he  had  signalized  himself 
as  a  founder  of  convents,  and  as  a  benefactor  to  hospitals  and 
monasteries. 

In  the  year  1231  be  returned  again  to  England  ;  and  the  very 
next  year,  in  1232,  began  to  build  and  endow  the  PRIORY  of 
SELBORNE.  As  this  great  work  followed  so  close  upon  his  return, 
it  is  not  improbable  that  it  was  the  result  of  a  vow  made  during 
his  voyage ;  and  especially  as  it  was  dedicated  to  the  Virgin 
Mary.  Why  the  bishop  made  choice  of  Selborne  for  the  scene  of 
his  munificence  can  never  be  determined  now :  it  can  only  be 
said  that  the  parish  was  in  his  diocese,  and  lay  almost  midway 
between  Winchester  and  Farnham,  or  South  Waltham  and  Farnkam  ; 
from  either  of  which  places  he  could  without  much  trouble  over- 
look his  workmen,  and  observe  what  progress  they  made ;  and 
that  the  situation  was  retired,  with  a  stream  running  by  it,  and 
sequestered  from  the  world,  amidst  woods  and  meadows,  and  so 
far  proper  for  the  site  of  a  religious  house.1 

1  The  institution  at  Selborne  was  a  priory  of  Black-Canons  of  the  order  of  St. 
Augustine,  called  also  Canons-Regular.  Regular-Canons  were  such  as  lived  in  a 
conventual  manner,  under  one  roof,  had  a  common  refectory  and  dormitory,  and 

17 


258  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

The  first  person  with  whom  the  founder  treated  about  the  pur- 
chase of  land  was  Jacobus  de  Achangre,  or  Ochangre,  a  gentleman 
of  property  who  resided  at  that  hamlet  ;  and,  as  appears,  at  the 
house  now  called  Oakhanger-house.  With  him  he  agreed  for  a 
croft,  or  little  close  of  land,  known  by  the  name  of  La  liega,  or 
La  lyge,  which  was  to  be  the  immediate  site  of  the  Priory. 

De  Achangre  also  accommodated  the  bishop  at  the  same  instant 
with  three  more  adjoining  crofts,  which  for  a  time  was  all  the 
footing  that  this  institution  obtained  in  the  parish.  The  seller  in 
the  conveyance  says  "  Warantizabimus,  defendemus,  et  acquieta- 
"  bimus  l  contra  omnes  gentes  "  ;  vis.  "  We  will  warrant  the  thing 
"sold  against  all  claims  from  any  quarter".  In  modern  con- 
veyancing this  would  be  termed  a  covenant  for  further  assurance. 
Afterwards  is  added  —  "  Pro  hac  autem  donacione,  &c.  dedit  mihi 
"  pred.  Episcopus  sexdecem  marcas  argenti  in  Gersumam  "  :  i.  e. 
"  the  bishop  gave  me  sixteen  silver  marks  as  a  consideration  for 
"  the  thing  purchased  ". 

As  the  grant  from  Jac.  de  Achangre  was  without  date,2  and  the 
next  is  circumstanced  in  the  same  manner,  we  cannot  say  exactly 
what  interval  there  was  between  the  two  purchases  ;  but  we  find 
that  Jacobus  de  Nortun,  a  neighbouring  gentleman,  also  soon  sold 
to  the  bishop  of  Winchester  some  adjoining  grounds,  through 
which  our  stream  passes,  that  the  priory  might  be  accommodated 
with  a  mill,  which  was  a  common  necessary  appendage  to  every 
manor  :  he  also  allowed  access  to  these  lands  by  a  road  for  carts 
and  waggons.  —  <(  Jacobus  de  Nortun  concedit  Petro  Winton  episcopo 
"  totum  cursum  aque  que  descendit  de  Molendino  de  Durton  usq  ;  ad 
"  boscum  Will.  Mauduit,  et  croftam  terre  vocat  :  Edriche  croft,  cum 
"extensione  ejusdem  et  abuttamentis  ;  ad  fundandam  domum 
"religiosam  de  ordine  Sti.  Augustini.  Concedit  etiam  viam  ad 
"  carros,  et  caretas,"  &c.  This  vale,  down  which  runs  the  brook, 
is  now  called  the  Long  Lithe,  or  Lythe.  Bating  the  following 

were  bound  by  vows  to  observe  the  rules  and  statutes  of  their  order  :  in  fine,  they 
were  a  kind  of  religious,  whose  discipline  was  less  rigid  than  the  monks'.  The  chief 
rule  of  these  canons  was  that  of  St.  Augustine,  who  was  constituted  bishop  of 
Hippo,  A.  D.  395  :  but  they  were  not  brought  into  England  till  after  the  conquest  ; 
and  seem  not  to  have  obtained  the  appellation  of  Augustine  canons  till  some  years 
after.  Their  habit  was  a  long  black  cassock,  with  a  white  rochet  over  it  ;  and  over 
that  a  black  cloak  and  hood.  The  monks  were  always  shaved  :  but  these  canons 
wore  their  hair  and  beards,  and  caps  on  their  heads.  There  were  of  these  canons, 
and  women  of  the  same  order  called  Canonesses,  about  175  houses. 


in  orig.] 

2  The  custom  of  affixing  dates  to  deeds  was  not  become  general  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  III. 


OF  SELBORNE  259 

particular  expression,  this  grant  runs  much  in  the  style  of  the 
former  ;  "  Dedit  mihi  episcopus  predictus  triginta  quinque  marcas 
"  argenti  ad  me  acquietandum  versus  Judceos  ". — That  is,  "  the  bishop 
"advanced  me  thirty-five  marks  of  silver  to  pay  my  debts  to  the 
"jews,"  who  were  then  the  only  lenders  of  money. 

Finding  himself  still  streightened  for  room,  the  founder  applied 
to  his  royal  master,  Henry,  who  was  graciously  pleased  to  bestow 
certain  lands  in  the  manor  of  Selborne  on  the  new  priory  of  his 
favourite  minister.     These   grounds   had   been  the   property  of 
Stephen  de  Lucy  ;  and  abutting  upon  the  narrow  limits  of  the  con- 
vent, became  a  very  commodious  and  agreeable  acquisition.     This 
grant,  I  find,  was  made  on  March  the  9th,  in  the  eighteenth  year 
of  Henry,  viz.   1234,  being  two  years  after  the  foundation  of  the 
monastery.     The  royal  donor  bestowed  his  favour  with  a  good 
grace,  by  adding  to  it  almost  every  immunity  and  privilege  that 
could  have  been  specified  in  the  law-language  of  the  times. — 
Quare  volumus  prior,  &c.  habeant  totam  terrain,  &c.  cum  omni- 
bus libertatibus  in  bosco  et  piano,  in  viis  et  semitis,  pratis  et 
'  pascuis  ;  aquis  et  piscariis  ;  infra  burgum,  et  extra  burgum  cum 
'  soka  et  saca,  Thol  et  Them,  Infangenethef  et  Utfangenethef,  et 
'  hamsocne  et  blodwite,  et  pecunia  que  dari  solet  pro  murdro  et 
'forstal,  et  flemenestrick,  et  cum  quietancia  de  omni  scotto  et 
'  geldo,  et  de  omnibus  auxiliis  regum,  vice  comitum,  et  omn  : 
*  ministralium  suorum ;  et  hidagio  et  exercitibus,  et  scutagiis,  et 
'  tallagiis,  et  shiris  et  hundredis,  et  placitis  et  querelis,  et  warda 
'  et  wardpeny,  et  opibus  castellorum  et  pontium,  et  clausuris  par- 
'  corum,  et  omni  carcio  et  sumagio,  et  domor  :  regal :  edificatione, 
'et  omnimoda  reparatione,  et  cum  omnibus  aliis   libertatibus." 
This  grant  was  made  out  by  Richard  bishop  of  Chichester,  then 
chancellor,  at  the  town  of  Northampton,  before  the  lord   chief 
justiciary,  who  was  the  founder  himself. 

The  charter  of  foundation  of  the  Priory,  dated  1233,  comes  next 
in  order  to  be  considered ;  but  being  of  some  length,  I  shall  not 
interrupt  my  narrative  by  placing  it  here  ;  and  therefore  refer  the 
reader  to  the  Appendix,  N°  I.  This  my  copy,  taken  from  the 
original,  I  have  compared  with  Dugdale's  copy,  and  find  that  they 
perfectly  agree ;  except  that  in  the  latter  the  preamble  and  the 
names  of  the  witnesses  are  omitted.  Yet  I  think  it  proper  to 
quote  a  passage  from  this  charter — "Et  ipsa  domus  religiosa  a 
"  cujuslibet  alterius  domus  religiosce  subjectione  libera  permaiieat,  et 
"  in  omnibus  absoluta  " — to  shew  how  much  Dttgdale  was  mistaken 
when  he  inserted  Selborne  among  the  alien  priories ;  forgetting 


260  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

that  this  disposition  of  the  convent  contradicted  the  grant  he  had 
published.  In  the  Monasticon  Anglicanum  in  English,  p.  119,  is 
part  of  his  catalogue  of  alien  priories,  suppressed  2  Henry  V.  viz. 
14-14,  where  may  be  seen  as  follows, 

S. 
Sele,  Sussex. 

SELEBURN. 

Shirburn. 

This  appeared  to  me  from  the  first  to  have  been  an  oversight, 
before  I  had  seen  my  authentic  evidences.  For  priories  alien,  a 
few  conventual  ones  excepted,  were  little  better  than  granges  to 
foreign  abbies ;  and  their  priors  little  more  than  bailiffs,  remov- 
able at  will :  whereas  the  priory  of  Selborne  possessed  the  valuable 
estates  and  manors  of  Selborne,  Achangre,  Norton,  Brompden,  Bas- 
singes,  Basingstoke,  and  Natele  ;  and  the  prior  challenged  the  right 
of  Pillory,  Thurcet,  and  Furcas,  and  every  manerial  privilege. 

I  find  next  a  grant  from  Jo.  de  Venur,  or  Venuz,  to  the  prior  of 
Selborne — "  de  tota  mora  [a  moor  or  bog]  ubi  Berne  oritur,  usque 
"  ad  campum  vivarii,  et  de  prato  voc.  Sydenmeade  cum  abutt :  et 
"  de  cursu  aque  molendini  ".  And  also  a  grant  in  reversion  "  unius 
"  virgate  terra  "  [a  yard  land],  in  Achangre  at  the  death  of  Richard 
Actedene  his  sister's  husband,  who  had  no  child.  He  was  to  pre- 
sent a  pair  of  gloves  of  one  penny  value  to  the  prior  and  canons, 
to  be  given  annually  by  the  said  Richard  ;  and  to  quit  all  claim  to 
the  said  lands  in  reversion,  provided  the  prior  and  canons  would 
engage  annually  to  pay  to  the  king,  through  the  hands  of  his 
bailiffs  of  Aulton,  ten  shillings  at  four  quarterly  payments,  "pro 
"  omnibus  serviciis,  consuetudinibus,  exactionibus,  et  demandis  ". 

This  Jo.  de  Venur  was  a  man  of  property  at  Oakhanger,  and  lived 
probably  at  the  spot  now  called  Chapel-farm.  The  grant  bears 
date  the  17th  year  of  the  reign  of  Henry  III.  [viz.  1233]. 

It  would  be  tedious  to  enumerate  every  little  grant  for  lands  or 
tenements  that  might  be  produced  from  my  vouchers.  I  shall 
therefore  pass  over  all  such  for  the  present,  and  conclude  this 
letter  with  a  remark  that  must  strike  every  thinking  person  with 
some  degree  of  wonder.  No  sooner  had  a  monastic  institution 
got  a  footing,  but  the  neighbourhood  began  to  be  touched  with  a 
secret  and  religious  awe.  Every  person  round  was  desirous  to 
promote  so  good  a  work ;  and  either  by  sale,  by  grant,  or  by  gift 
in  reversion,  was  ambitious  of  appearing  a  benefactor.  They  who 
had  not  lands  to  spare  gave  roads  to  accommodate  the  infant 


OF  SELBORNE  261 

foundation.  The  religious  were  not  backward  in  keeping  up  this 
pious  propensity,  which  they  observed  so  readily  influenced  the 
breasts  of  men.  Thus  did  the  more  opulent  monasteries  add 
house  to  house,  and  field  to  field ;  and  by  degrees  manor  to 
manor:  till  at  last  "there  was  no  place  left"  ;  but  every  district 
around  became  appropriated  to  the  purposes  of  their  founders,  and 
every  precinct  was  drawn  into  the  vortex. 


LETTER  VIII. 

OUR  forefathers  in  this  village  were  no  doubt  as  busy  and  bustling, 
and  as  important,  as  ourselves :  yet  have  their  names  and  trans- 
actions been  forgotten  from  century  to  century,  and  have  sunk 
into  oblivion  ;  nor  has  this  happened  only  to  the  vulgar,  but  even 
to  men  remarkable  and  famous  in  their  generation.  I  was  led 
into  this  train  of  thinking  by  finding  in  my  vouchers  that  Sir 
Adam  Gurdon  was  an  inhabitant  of  Selborne,  and  a  man  of  the 
first  rank  and  property  in  the  parish.  By  Sir  Adam  Gurdon  I 
would  be  understood  to  mean  that  leading  and  accomplished 
malecontent  in  the  Mountforl  faction,  who  distinguished  himself 
by  his  daring  conduct  in  the  reign  of  Henry  III.  The  first  that 
we  hear  of  this  person  in  my  papers  is,  that  with  two  others  he 
was  bailiff  of  Alton  before  the  sixteenth  of  Henry  III.  viz.  about 
1231,  and  then  not  knighted.  Who  Gurdon  was,  and  whence  he 
came,  does  not  appear :  yet  there  is  reason  to  suspect  that  he 
was  originally  a  mere  soldier  of  fortune,  who  had  raised  himself 
by  marrying  women  of  property.  The  name  of  Gurdon  does  not 
seem  to  be  known  in  the  south ;  but  there  is  a  name  so  like  it  in 
an  adjoining  kingdom,  and  which  belongs  to  two  or  three  noble 
families,  that  it  is  probable  this  remarkable  person  was  a  North 
Briton  ;  and  the  more  so,  since  the  Christian  name  of  Adam  is  a 
distinguished  one  to  this  day  among  the  family  of  the  Gordons. — 
But,  be  this  as  it  may,  Sir  Adam  Gurdon  has  been  noticed  by  all 
the  writers  of  English  history  for  his  bold  disposition  and  dis- 
affected spirit,  in  that  he  not  only  figured  during  the  successful 
rebellion  of  Leicester,  but  kept  up  the  war  after  the  defeat  and 
death  of  that  baron,  entrenching  himself  in  the  woods  of  Hamp- 
shire, towards  the  town  of  Farnham.  After  the  battle  of  Evesham, 
in  which  Mountfort  fell,  in  the  year  1265,  Gurdon  might  not  think 
it  safe  to  return  to  his  house  for  fear  of  a  surprise  ;  but  cautiously 
fortified  himself  amidst  the  forests  and  woodlands  with  which  he 


262  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

was  so  well  acquainted.  Prince  Edward,  desirous  of  putting  an 
end  to  the  troubles  which  had  so  long  harassed  the  kingdom, 
pursued  the  arch-rebel  into  his  fastnesses  ;  attacked  his  camp ; 
leaped  over  the  entrenchments  ;  and.  singling  out  Gurdon,  ran 
him  down,  wounded  him,  and  took  him  prisoner.1 

There  is  not  perhaps  in  all  history  a  more  remarkable  instance 
of  command  of  temper,  and  magnanimity,  than  this  before  us  : 
that  a  young  prince,  in  the  moment  of  victory,  when  he  had  the 
fell  adversary  of  the  crown  and  royal  family  at  his  mercy,  should 
be  able  to  withhold  his  hand  from  that  vengeance  which  the 
vanquished  so  well  deserved.  A  cowardly  disposition  would 
have  been  blinded  by  resentment :  but  this  gallant  heir  apparent 
saw  at  once  a  method  of  converting  a  most  desperate  foe  into  a 
lasting  friend.  He  raised  the  fallen  veteran  from  the  ground, 
he  pardoned  him,  he  admitted  him  into  his  confidence,  and 
introduced  him  to  the  queen,  then  lying  at  Guildford,  that  very 
evening.  This  unmerited  and  unexpected  lenity  melted  the 
heart  of  the  rugged  Gurdon  at  once ;  he  became  in  an  instant  a 
loyal  and  useful  subject,  trusted  and  employed  in  matters  of 
moment  by  Edward  when  king,  and  confided  in  till  the  day  of 
his  death. 


LETTER  IX. 

IT  has  been  hinted  in  a  former  letter  that  Sir  Adam  Gurdon  had 
availed  himself  by  marrying  women  of  property.  By  my  evidences 
it  appears  that  he  had  three  wives,  and  probably  in  the  following 
order :  Constantia,  Ameria,  and  Agnes.  The  first  of  these  ladies, 
who  was  the  companion  of  his  middle  life,  seems  to  have  been  a 
person  of  considerable  fortune,  which  she  inherited  from  Thomas 
Makerel,  a  gentleman  of  Selborne,  who  was  either  her  father  or 
uncle.  The  second,  Ameria,  calls  herself  the  quondam  wife  of 
Sir  Adam,  "quae  fui  uxor,"  &c.  and  talks  of  her  sons  under  age. 
Now  Gurdon  had  no  son  :  and  beside  Agnes  in  another  document 
says,  "  Ego  Agnes  quondam  uxor  Domini  Adce  Gurdon  in  pura  et 
"  ligea  viduitate  mea  "  :  but  Gurdon  could  not  leave  two  widows  ; 
and  therefore  it  seems  probable  that  he  had  been  divorced  from 
Ameria,  who  afterwards  married,  and  had  sons.  By  Agnes  Sir 
Adam  had  a  daughter  Johanna,  who  was  his  heiress,  to  whom 

1  M.  Paris,  p.  675,  &  Triveti  Annales. 


OF  SELBORNE  263 

Agnes  in  her  life-time  surrendered  part  of  her  jointure  : — he  had 
also  a  bastard  son. 

Sir  Adam  seems  to  have  inhabited  the  house  now  called  Temple, 
lying  about  two  miles  east  of  the  church,  which  had  been  the 
property  of  Thomas  Makerel. 

In  the  year  1 262  he  petitioned  the  prior  of  Selborne  in  his  own 
name,  and  that  of  his  wife  Constantia  only,  for  leave  to  build  him 
an  oratory  in  his  manor-house,  "  in  curia  sua  ".  Licenses  of  this 
sort  were  frequently  obtained  by  men  of  fortune  and  rank  from 
the  bishop  of  the  diocese,  the  archbishop,  and  sometimes,  as  I 
have  seen  instances,  from  the  pope  ;  not  only  for  convenience- 
sake,  and  on  account  of  distance,  and  the  badness  of  the  roads, 
but  as  a  matter  of  state  and  distinction.  Why  the  owner  should 
apply  to  the  prior,  in  preference  to  the  bishop  of  the  diocese,  and 
how  the  former  became  competent  to  such  a  grant,  I  cannot  say  ; 
but  that  the  priors  of  Selborne  did  take  that  privilege  is  plain, 
because  some  years  afterward,  in  1 280,  Prior  Richard  granted  to 
Henry  Waterford  and  his  wife  Nicholaa  a  license  to  build  an 
oratory  in  their  court-house,  "  curia  sua  de  Waterford,"  in  which 
they  might  celebrate  divine  service,  saving  the  rights  of  the 
mother  church  of  Basynges.  Yet  all  the  while  the  prior  of  Sel- 
borne grants  with  such  reserve  and  caution,  as  if  in  doubt  of  his 
power,  and  leaves  Gurdon  and  his  lady  answerable  in  future  to 
the  bishop,  or  his  ordinary,  or  to  the  vicar  for  the  time  being, 
in  case  they  should  infringe  the  rights  of  the  mother  church  of 
Selborne. 

The  manor-house  called  Temple  is  at  present  a  single  building, 
running  in  length  from  south  to  north,  and  has  been  occupied  as 
a  common  farm  house  from  time  immemorial.  The  south  end  is 
modern,  and  consists  of  a  brew-house,  and  then  a  kitchen.  The 
middle  part  is  an  hall  twenty-seven  feet  in  length,  and  nineteen 
feet  in  breadth ;  and  has  been  formerly  open  to  the  top ;  but 
there  is  now  a  floor  above  it,  and  also  a  chimney  in  the  western 
wall.  The  roofing  consists  of  strong  massive  rafter-work  orna- 
mented with  carved  roses.  I  have  often  looked  for  the  lamb  and 
flag,  the  arms  of  the  knights  templars,  without  success  ;  but  in  one 
corner  found  a  fox  with  a  goose  on  his  back,  so  coarsely  executed, 
that  it  required  some  attention  to  make  out  the  device. 

Beyond  the  hall  to  the  north  is  a  small  parlour  with  a  vast 
heavy  stone  chimney-piece  ;  and,  at  the  end  of  all,  the  chapel  or 
oratory,  whose  massive  thick  walls  and  narrow  windows  at  once 
bespeak  great  antiquity.  This  room  is  only  sixteen  feet  by 


264  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

sixteen  feet  eight  inches ;  and  full  seventeen  feet  nine  inches  in 
height.  The  ceiling  is  formed  of  vast  joists,  placed  only  five  or 
six  inches  apart.  Modern  delicacy  would  not  much  approve  of 
such  a  place  of  worship  :  for  it  has  at  present  much  more  the 
appearance  of  a  dungeon  than  of  a  room  fit  for  the  reception  of 
people  of  condition.  For  the  outside  I  refer  the  reader  to  the 
plate,  in  which  Mr.  Grimm  has  represented  it  with  his  usual 
accuracy.  The  field  on  which  this  oratory  abuts  is  still  called 
Chapel-field.  The  situation  of  this  house  is  very  particular,  for 
it  stands  upon  the  immediate  verge  of  a  steep  abrupt  hill.1 

Not  many  years  since  this  place  was  used  for  an  hop-kiln,  and 
was  divided  into  two  stories  by  a  loft,  part  of  which  remains  at 
present,  and  makes  it  convenient  for  peat  and  turf,  with  which  it 
is  stowed. 


LETTER  X. 

THE  Priory  at  times  was  much  obliged  to  Gurdon  and  his  family. 
As  Sir  Adam  began  to  advance  in  years  he  found  his  mind  influenced 
by  the  prevailing  opinion  of  the  reasonableness  and  efficacy  of 
prayers  for  the  dead ;  and,  therefore,  in  conjunction  with  his 
wife  Constantia,  in  the  year  1271,  granted  to  the  prior  and  convent 
of  Selborne  all  his  right  and  claim  to  a  certain  place,  placea,  called 
La  Pleystow,  in  the  village  aforesaid,  "in  liberam,  puram,  et  per- 
petuam  elemosinam".  This  Pleystorv?  locus  ludorum,  or  play-place, 
is  a  level  area  near  the  church  of  about  forty-four  yards  by 
thirty-six,  and  is  known  now  by  the  name  of  the  Plestor.3 

It  continues  still,  as  it  was  in  old  times,  to  be  the  scene  of 
recreation  for  the  youths  and  children  of  the  neighbourhood ; 
and  impresses  an  idea  on  the  mind  that  this  village,  even  in 
Saxon  times,  could  not  be  the  most  abject  of  places,  when  the 
inhabitants  thought  proper  to  assign  so  spacious  a  spot  for  the 
sports  and  amusements  of  it's  young  people.4 

1  [This  reference  is  to  the  plate  in  the  quarto  editions.     I  regret  to  say  that  the 
house  as  it  stood  in  Gilbert  White's  time  no  longer  exists.     It  has  long  been  pulled 
down,  giving  place  to  as  uninteresting  and  ugly  a  building  as  can  be  imagined. 
The  old  wall,  however,  still  remains,  and  probably  without  any  important  change. 
— Bell.] 

2  In  Saxon  Plegertop,  or  Plegrcop ;  viz.  Plegestow,  or  Plegstow. 

3  At  this  juncture  probably  the  vast  oak,  mentioned  p.  4,  was  planted  by  the 
prior,  as  an  ornament  to  his  new  acquired  market  place.     According  to  this  sup- 
position the  oak  was  aged  432  years  when  blown  down. 

4  For  more  circumstances  respecting  the  Pies  tor,  see  Letter  II.  to  Mr.  Pennant. 


OF  SELBORNE  265 

As  soon  as  the  prior  became  possessed  of  this  piece  of  ground, 
he  procured  a  charter  for  a  market1  from  king  Henry  III.  and 
began  to  erect  houses  and  stalls,  "  seldas,"  around  it.  From  this 
period  Selborne  became  a  market  town  :  but  how  long  it  enjoyed 
that  privilege  does  not  appear.  At  the  same  time  Gurdon 
reserved  to  himself,  and  his  heirs,  a  way  through  the  said  Plestor 
to  a  tenement  and  some  crofts  at  the  upper  end,  abutting  on  the 
south  corner  of  the  church-yard.  This  was,  in  old  days,  the 
manerial  house  of  the  street  manor,  though  now  a  poor  cottage ; 
and  is  known  at  present  by  the  modern  name  of  Elliot's.  Sir 
Adam  also  did,  for  the  health  of  his  own  soul,  and  that  of  his  wife 
Constantia,  their  predecessors  and  successors,  grant  to  the  prior 
and  canons  quiet  possession  of  all  the  tenements  and  gardens, 
"  curtillagia,"  which  they  had  built  and  laid  out  on  the  lands  in 
Selborne,  on  which  he  and  his  vassals,  " homines"  had  undoubted 
right  of  common :  and  moreover  did  grant  to  the  convent  the 
full  privilege  of  that  right  of  common ;  and  empowered  the 
religious  to  build  tenements  and  make  gardens  along  the  king's 
highway  in  the  village  of  Selborne. 

From  circumstances  put  together  it  appears  that  the  above 
were  the  first  grants  obtained  by  the  Priory  in  the  village  of 
Selborne,  after  it  had  subsisted  about  thirty-nine  years  :  moreover 
they  explain  the  nature  of  the  mixed  manor  still  remaining  in 
and  about  the  village,  where  one  field  or  tenement  shall  belong 
to  Magdalen-college  in  the  university  of  Oxford,  and  the  next  to 
Norton  Potvlet,  esq.  of  Rotherfield  house ;  and  so  down  the  whole 
street.  The  case  was,  that  the  whole  was  once  the  property  of 
Gurdon,  till  he  made  his  grants  to  the  convent ;  since  which  some 
belongs  to  the  successors  of  Gurdon  in  the  manor,  and  some  to 
the  college ;  and  this  is  the  occasion  of  the  strange  jumble  of 
property.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  tenement  and  crofts  which 
Sir  Adam  reserved  at  the  time  of  granting  the  Plestor  should  still 
remain  a  part  of  the  Gurdon-manor,  though  so  desirable  an 
addition  to  the  vicarage  that  is  not  as  yet  possessed  of  one  inch 
of  glebe  at  home:  but  of  late,  viz.  in  January  1785,  Magdalen- 

1  Bishop  Tanner,  in  his  Notitia  Monastica,  has  made  a  mistake  respecting  the 
market  and/air  at  Selborne  :  for  in  his  references  to  Dodsworth,  cart.  54  Hen.  III. 
m.  3.  he  says,  "  De  mercatu,  et  feria  de  Seleburn".  But  this  reference  is  wrong; 
for,  instead  of  Seleburn,  it  proves  that  the  place  there  meant  was  Lekebornt,  or 
Legeborne,  in  the  county  of  Lincoln.  This  error  was  copied  from  the  index  of  the 
Cat.  MSS.  Angl.  It  does  not  appear  that  there  ever  was  a  chartered  fair  at  Sel- 
borne. For  several  particulars  respecting  the  present  fair  at  Selborne  see  Letter 
XXVI.  of  these  Antiquities. 


266  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

college  purchased  that  little  estate,  which  is  life-holding,  in 
reversion,  for  the  generous  purpose  of  bestowing  it,  and  it's  lands, 
being  twelve  acres  (three  of  which  abut  on  the  church-yard  and 
vicarage-garden)  as  an  improvement  hereafter  to  the  living,  and 
an  eligible  advantage  to  future  incumbents. 

The  year  after  Gurdon  had  bestowed  the  Plestor  on  the  Priory, 
viz.  in  1272,  Henry  III.  king  of  England  died,  and  was  succeeded 
by  his  son  Edward.  This  magnanimous  prince  continued  his 
regard  for  Sir  Adam,  whom  he  esteemed  as  a  brave  man,  and 
made  him  warden,  "  custos,"  of  the  forest  of  Wolmer.1  Though 
little  emolument  might  hang  to  this  appointment,  yet  there  are 
reasons  why  it  might  be  highly  acceptable  ;  and,  in  a  few  reigns 
after,  it  was  given  to  princes  of  the  blood.2  In  old  days  gentry 

1  Since  the  letters  respecting  Wolmer-forest  and  Ayles-holt,  from  p.  14  to  26,  were 
printed,  the  author  has  been  favoured  with  the  following  extracts  : — 

In  the  "  Act  of  Resumption,  i  Hen.  VII."  it  was  provided,  that  it  be  not  pre- 
judicial to  ' '  Harry  at  Lode,  ranger  of  our  forest  of  Wolmere,  to  him  by  cure  letters 
"  patents  before  tyme  gevyn  ".  Rolls  of  Parl.  Vol.  VI.  p.  370. 

In  the  ii  Hen.  VII.  1495 — "  Warlham  [Wardleham]  and  the  office  of  forest 
[forester]  of  Wolmere"  were  held  by  Edmund  duke  of  Suffolk. — Rolls,  ib.  474. 

Act  of  general  pardon,  14  Hen.  VIII.  1523,  not  to  extend  to  "-Rich.  Bp.  of 
'  Wynton  [bishop  Fox]  for  any  seizure  or  forfeiture  of  liberties,  &c.  within  the 
'forest  of  Wolmer,  Alysholt,  and  N ewe  Forest ;  nor  to  any  person  for  waste,  &c. 
'  within  the  manor  of  Wardlam,  or  parish  of  Wardlam  [  Wardleham]  ;  nor  to 
'  abusing,  &c.  of  any  office  or  fee,  within  the  said  forests  of  Wolmer  or  Alysholt, 
'  or  the  said  park  of  Wardlam." — County  Suth't. 

Rolls  prefixt  to  ist  Vol.  of  Journals  of  the  Lords,  p.  xciii.  b. 

To  these  may  be  added  some  other  particulars,  taken  from  a  book  lately 
published,  entitled  "  An  Account  of  all  the  Manors,  Messuages,  Lands,  &c.  in  the 
"different  Counties  of  England  and  Wales,  held  by  Lease  from  the  Crown  ;  as 
"  contained  in  the  Report  of  the  Commissioners  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  State 
"  and  Condition  of  the  Royal  Forests,"  &c. — London,  1787. 

"Southampton." 
/.  s.    d. 

P.  64,  "  A  fee-farm  rent  of  31  2  n  out  of  the  manors  of  East  and  West  Wardle- 
"  ham  ;  and  also  the  office  of  lieutenant  or  keeper  of  the  forest  or  chase  of  Aliceholt 
' '  and  Wolmer,  with  all  offices,  fees,  commodities,  and  privileges  thereto  belonging. 

"  Names  of  lessees,   William  earl  of  Dartmouth  and  others  (in  trust). 

"  Date  of  the  last  lease,  March  23,  1780 ;  granted  for  such  term  as  would  fill  up 
"  the  subsisting  term  to  31  years. 

"Expiration  March  23,  1811." 

"Appendix,  No  HI." 
"  Southampton." 

"  Hundreds — Selborne  and  Finchdeane." 
"  Honours  and  manors,"  &c. 

"  A  Uceholt  forest,  three  parks  there. 

"  Bensted  and  King  s  ley ;  a  petition  of  the  parishioners  concerning  the  three 
"  parks  in  Aliceholt  forest." 

William,  first  earl  of  Dartmouth,  and  paternal  grandfather  to  the  present  lord 
Stawel,  was  a  lessee  of  the  forests  of  Aliceholt  and  Wolmer  before  brigadier-general 
Emanuel  Scroope  Howe. 

2  See  Letter  II.  of  these  Antiquities. 


OF  SELBORNE  267 

resided  more  at  home  on  their  estates,  and,  having  fewer  resources 
of  elegant  in-door  amusement,  spent  most  of  their  leisure  hours 
in  the  field  and  the  pleasures  of  the  chase.  A  large  domain, 
therefore,  at  little  more  than  a  mile  distance,  and  well  stocked 
with  game,  must  have  been  a  very  eligible  acquisition,  affording 
him  influence  as  well  as  entertainment ;  and  especially  as  the 
manerial  house  of  Temple,  by  its  exalted  situation,  could  command 
a  view  of  near  two-thirds  of  the  forest. 

That  Gurdon,  who  had  lived  some  years  the  life  of  an  outlaw, 
and  at  the  head  of  an  army  of  insurgents,  was,  for  a  considerable 
time,  in  high  rebellion  against  his  sovereign,  should  have  been 
guilty  of  some  outrages,  and  should  have  committed  some 
depredations,  is  by  no  means  matter  of  wonder.  Accordingly 
we  find  a  distnngas  against  him,  ordering  him  to  restore  to  the 
bishop  of  Winchester  some  of  the  temporalities  of  that  see,  which 
he  had  taken  by  violence  and  detained ;  viz.  some  lands  in 
Hocheleye,  and  a  mill.1  By  a  breve,  or  writ,  from  the  king  he  is 
also  enjoined  to  readmit  the  bishop  of  Winchester,  and  his  tenants 
of  the  parish  and  town  of  Farnham,  to  pasture  their  horses,  and 
other  larger  cattle,  "  averia  "  in  the  forest  of  Wolmer,  as  had  been 
the  usage  from  time  immemorial.  This  writ  is  dated  in  the 
tenth  year  of  the  reign  of  Edward,  viz.  1282. 

All  the  king's  writs  directed  to  Gurdon  are  addressed  in  the 
following  manner :  "  Edwardus,  Dei  gratia,  &c.  dilecto  et  fideli 
"suo  Ade  Gurdon  salutem  "  ;  and  again,  "Custodi  foreste  sue  de 
"  Wolvemere  ". 

In  the  year  1293  a  quarrel  between  the  crews  of  an  English 
and  a  Norman  ship,  about  some  trifle,  brought  on  by  degrees  such 
serious  consequences,  that  in  1295  a  war  broke  out  between  the 
two  nations.  The  French  king,  Philip  the  Hardy,  gained  some 
advantages  in  Gascony  ;  and,  not  content  with  those,  threatened 
England  with  an  invasion,  and,  by  a  sudden  attempt,  took  and 
burnt  Dover. 

Upon  this  emergency  Edward  sent  a  writ  to  Gurdon,  ordering 
him  and  four  others  to  enlist  three  thousand  soldiers  in  the 
counties  of  Surrey,  Dorset,  and  Wiltshire,  able-bodied  men,  "  tarn 
sagittare  quam  balistare  potentes  "  :  and  to  see  that  they  were 
marched,  by  the  feast  of  All  Saints,  to  Winchelsea,  there  to  be 
embarked  aboard  the  king's  transports. 

1  Hocheleye,  now  spelt  Hawkley,  is  in  the  hundred  of  Selbome,  and  has  a  mill 
at  this  day. 


268  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

The  occasion  of  this  armament  appears  also  from  a  summons 
to  the  bishop  of  Winchester  to  parliament,  part  of  which  I  shall 
transcribe  on  account  of  the  insolent  menace  which  is  said  therein 
to  have  been  denounced  against  the  English  language  : — "  qualiter 
"  rex  Francice  de  terra  nostra  Gascon  nos  fraudulenter  et  cautelose 
"  decepit,  earn  nobis  nequiter  detinendo  .  .  .  vero  predictis  fraude 
"  et  nequitia  non  contentus,  ad  expurgationem  regni  nostri  classe 
"  maxima  et  bellatorum  copiosa  multitudine  congregatis,cumquibus 
"  regnum  nostrum  et  regni  ejusdem  incolas  hostiliter  jam  invasurus, 
"  linguam  Anglicam,  si  concepte  iniquitatis  proposito  detestabili 
"  potestas  correspondeat,  quod  Deus  avertat,  omnino  de  terra  delere 
"proponit ".  Dated  30th  September,  in  the  year  of  king  Edward's 
reign  xxiii.1 

The  above  are  the  last  traces  that  I  can  discover  of  Gurdon  s 
appearing  and  acting  in  public.  The  first  notice  that  my  evi- 
dences give  of  him  is,  that,  in  1232,  being  the  l6th  of  Henry  III. 
he  was  the  king's  bailiff,  with  others,  for  the  town  of  Alton. 
Now,  from  1232  to  1295  is  a  space  of  sixty-three  years;  a  long 
period  for  one  man  to  be  employed  in  active  life !  Should  any 
one  doubt  whether  all  these  particulars  can  relate  to  one  and  the 
same  person,  I  should  wish  him  to  attend  to  the  following  reasons 
why  they  might.  In  the  first  place,  the  documents  from  the 
priory  mention  but  one  Sir  Adam  Gurdon,  who  had  no  son  law- 
fully begotten :  and  in  the  next,  we  are  to  recollect  that  he  must 
have  probably  been  a  man  of  uncommon  vigour  both  of  mind 
and  body ;  since  no  one,  unsupported  by  such  accomplishments, 
could  have  engaged  in  such  adventures,  or  could  have  borne 
up  against  the  difficulties  which  he  sometimes  must  have  en- 
countered :  and,  moreover,  we  have  modern  instances  of  persons 
that  have  maintained  their  abilities  for  near  that  period. 

Were  we  to  suppose  Gurdon  to  be  only  twenty  years  of  age  in 
1232,  in  1295  he  would  be  eighty-three  ;  after  which  advanced 
period  it  could  not  be  expected  that  he  should  live  long.  From 
the  silence,  therefore,  of  my  evidences  it  seems  probable  that 
this  extraordinary  person  finished  his  life  in  peace,  not  long  after, 
at  his  mansion  of  Temple.  Gurdons  seal  had  for  it's  device — a 
man,  with  a  helmet  on  his  head,  drawing  a  cross-bow ;  the 
legend,  " Sigillum  Ade  de  Gurdon"  ;  his  arms  were,  "Goulis,  iii 
"floures  argent  issant  de  testes  de  leopards  ".a 

1  Reg.  Wynton,  Stratford,  but  query  Stratford ;  for  Stratford  was  not  bishop 
of  Winton  till  1323,  near  thirty  years  afterwards. 

2  From  the  collection  of  Thomas  Martin,  Esq.  in  the  Antiquarian  Repertory, 
p.  109,  NO  XXXI. 


OF  SELBORNE  269 

If  the  stout  and  unsubmitting  spirit  of  Gurdon  could  be  so 
much  influenced  by  the  belief  and  superstition  of  the  times, 
much  more  might  the  hearts  of  his  ladies  and  daughter.  And 
accordingly  we  find  that  Ameria,  by  the  consent  and  advice  of 
her  sons,  though  said  to  be  all  under  age,  makes  a  grant  for  ever 
of  some  lands  down  by  the  stream  at  Durton ;  and  also  of  her 
right  of  the  common  of  Durton  itself.1  Johanna,  the  daughter 
and  heiress  of  Sir  Adam,  was  married,  I  find,  to  Richard  Achard  ; 
she  also  grants  to  the  prior  and  convent  lands  and  tenements  in 
the  village  of  Selborne,  which  her  father  obtained  from  Thomas 
Makerel;  and  also  all  her  goods  and  chattels  in  Selborne  for  the 
consideration  of  two  hundred  pounds  sterling.  This  last  business 
was  transacted  in  the  first  year  of  Edward  II.  viz.  1307.  It  has 
been  observed  before  that  Gurdon  had  a  natural  son :  this  person 
was  called  by  the  name  of  John  Dastard,  alias  Wastard,  but  more 
probably  Bastard  ;  since  bastardy  in  those  days  was  not  esteemed 
any  disgrace,  though  dastardy  was  deemed  the  greatest.  He 
was  married  to  Gunnorie  Duncun ;  and  had  a  tenement  and  some 
land  granted  him  in  Selborne  by  his  sister  Johanna. 


LETTER  XL 

THE  Knights  Templars,'1  who  have  been  mentioned  in  a  former 
letter,  had  considerable  property  in  Selborne  ;  and  also  a  precep- 

1  Durton,  now  called  Dorton,  is  still  a  common  for  the  copyholders  of  Selbornt 
manor. 

2  The  MILITARY  ORDERS  of  the  RELIGIOUS. 

The  Knights  Hospitalars  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem,  afterwards  called  Knights 
of  Rhodes,  now  of  Malta,  came  into  England  about  the  year  uoo.  i  Hen.  I. 

The  Knights  Templars  came  into  England  pretty  early  in  Stephen's  reign,  which 
commenced  1135.  The  order  was  dissolved  in  1312,  and  their  estates  given  by  act 
of  Parliament  to  the  Hospitalars,  in  1323  (all  in  Edw.  II. )  though  many  of  their 
estates  were  never  actually  enjoyed  by  the  said  Hospitalars. 

Vid.  Tanner,  p.  xxiv.  x. 

The  commandries  of  the  Hospitalars,  and  preceptories  of  Templars,  were  each 
subordinate  to  the  principal  house  of  their  respective  religion  in  London.  Although 
these  are  the  different  denominations,  which  Tanner at  p.  xxviii.  assigns  to  the  cells 
of  these  different  orders,  yet  throughout  the  work  very  frequent  instances  occur  of 
preceptories  attributed  to  the  Hospitalars ;  and  if  in  some  passages  of  Notitia 
Monast.  commandries  are  attributed  to  the  Templars,  it  is  only  where  the  place 
afterwards  became  the  property  of  the  Hospitalars,  and  so  is  there  indifferently 
styled  preceptory  or  command ry ;  see  p.  243,  263,  276,  577,  678.  But,  to  account 
for  the  first  observed  inaccuracy,  it  is  probable  the  preceptories  of  the  Templars, 
when  given  to  the  Hospitalars,  were  still  vulgarly,  however,  called  by  their  old 


270  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

lory  at  Sudington,  now  called  Southington,  a  hamlet  lying  one  mile 
to  the  east  of  the  village.  Bishop  Tanner  mentions  only  two 
such  houses  of  the  Templars  in  all  the  county  of  Southampton, 
viz.  Godesfield,  founded  by  Henry  de  Blois,  bishop  of  Winchester, 
and  South  Badeisley,  a  preceptory  of  the  Knights  Templars,  and 
afterwards  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem,  valued  at  one  hundred  and 
eighteen  pounds  sixteen  shillings  and  seven  pence  per  annum. 
Here  then  was  a  preceptory  unnoticed  by  antiquaries,  between  the 
village  and  Temple.  Whatever  the  edifice  of  the  preceptory  might 
have  been,,  it  has  long  since  been  dilapidated ;  and  the  whole 
hamlet  contains  now  only  one  mean  farm-house,  though  there 
were  two  in  the  memory  of  man. 

It  has  been  usual  for  the  religious  of  different  orders  to  fall 
into  great  dissensions,  and  especially  when  they  were  near  neigh- 
bours. Instances  of  this  sort  we  have  heard  of  between  the 
monks  of  Canterbury ;  and  again  between  the  old  abbey  of  St. 
Swythun,  and  the  comparatively  new  minister  of  Hyde  in  the  city 
of  Winchester.1  These  feuds  arose  probably  from  different  orders 

name  of  preceptories ;  whereas  in  propriety  the  societies  of  the  Hospitalars  were 
indeed  (as  has  been  said)  commandries.  And  such  deviation  from  the  strictness  of 
expression  in  this  case  might  occasion  those  societies  of  Hospitalars  also  to  be 
indifferently  called  preceptories,  which  had  originally  been  vested  in  them,  having 
never  belonged  to  the  Templars  at  all. — See  in  Archer,  p.  609.  Tanner,  p.  300. 
col.  i.  720.  note  e. 

It  is  observable  that  the  very  statute  for  the  dissolution  of  the  Hospitalars  holds 
the  same  language ;  for  there,  in  the  enumeration  of  particulars,  occur  ' '  cotn- 
mandries,  preceptories" .  Codex,  p.  1190.  Now  this  intercommunity  of  names,  and 
that  in  an  act  of  parliament  too,  made  some  of  our  ablest  antiquaries  look  upon  a 
preceptory  and  commandry  as  strictly  synonymous  ;  accordingly  we  find  Camden, 
in  his  Britannia,  explaining  prceceptoria  in  the  text  by  a  commandry  in  the  margin, 
p.  356,  510.  J.  L. 

Commandry,  a  manor  or  chief  messuage  with  lands,  &c.  belonging  to  the  priory 
of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem  ;  and  he  who  had  the  government  of  such  house  was  called 
the  commander,  who  could  not  dispose  of  it  but  to  the  use  of  the  priory,  only  taking 
thence  his  own  sustenance,  according  to  his  degree,  who  was  usually  a  brother  of 
the  same  priory.  Co-well.  He  adds  (confounding  these  with  preceptories]  they  are 
in  many  places  termed  Temples,  as  Temple  Bruere  in  Lincolnshire,  &c.  Pre- 
ceptories were  possessed  by  the  more  eminent  sort  of  Templars,  whom  the  chief 
master  created  and  called  Prceceptores  Templi.  Cowell,  who  refers  to  Stephens  de 
Jurisd.  lib.  4.  c.  10.  num.  27. 

Placita  de  juratis  et  assis  coram  Salom.  de  Roff  et  sociis  suis  justic.  Itiner. 
apud  Wynton.  &c.  anno  regni  R.  Edwardi  fil.  Reg.  Hen.  octavo. — "  et  Magr. 
"  Milicie  Templi  in  Angl.  ht  emendasse  panis,  &  suis  [cerevisias]  in  Sodington,  & 
"nescint  q°.  war.  et — et  magist.  Milicie  Templi  non  ven  io  distr." 

Chapter-house  Westminster. 

1  Notitia  Monastica,  p.  155. 

"  Winchester,  Newminster.  King  Alfred  founded  here  first  only  a  house  and 
"chapel  for  the  learned  monk  Grimbald,  whom  he  had  brought  out  of  Flanders : 


OF  SELBORNE  271 

being  crowded  within  the  narrow  limits  of  a  city,  or  garrison- 
town,  where  every  inch  of  ground  was  precious,  and  an  object  of 
contention.  But  with  us,  as  far  as  my  evidences  extend,  and 
while  Robert  Saunford  was  master,1  and  Richard  Carpenter  was 
preceptor,  the  Templars  and  the  Priors  lived  in  an  intercourse  of 
mutual  good  offices. 

My  papers  mention  three  transactions,  the  exact  time  of  which 
cannot  be  ascertained,  because  they  fell  out  before  dates  were 
usually  inserted ;  though  probably  they  happened  about  the 
middle  of  the  thirteenth  century ;  not  long  after  Saunford  be- 
came master.  The  first  of  these  is  that  the  Templars  shall  pay  to 
the  priory  of  Selborne,  annually,  the  sum  of  ten  shillings  at  two 
half  yearly  payments  from  their  chamber,  "camera,"  at  Sudington, 
"  per  manum  preceptoris,  vel  ballivi  nostri,  qui  pro  tempore  fuerit 
"ibidem,"  till  they  can  provide  the  prior  and  canons  with  an 
equivalent  in  lands  or  rents  within  four  or  five  miles  of  the  said 
convent.  It  is  also  further  agreed  that,  if  the  Templars  shall  be 
in  arrears  for  one  year,  that  then  the  prior  shall  be  empowered 
to  distrain  upon  their  live  stock  in  Bradeseth.  The  next  matter 
was  a  grant  from  Robert  de  Saunford  to  the  priory  for  ever,  of 
a  good  and  sufficient  road,  "  cheminum,"  capable  of  admitting 
carriages,  and  proper  for  the  drift  of  their  larger  cattle,  from  the 
way  which  extends  from  Sudington  towards  Blakemere,  on  to  the 
lands  which  the  convent  possesses  in  Bradeseth. 

The  third  transaction  (though  for  want  of  dates  we  cannot  say 
which  happened  first  and  which  last)  was  a  grant  from  Robert 

'  but  afterwards  projected,  and  by  his  will  ordered,  a  noble  church  or  religious 
1  house  to  be  built  in  the  cemetery  on  the  north  side  of  the  old  minster  or  cathedral ; 
'  and  designed  that  Grimbald  should  preside  over  it.  This  was  begun  A.D.  901, 
'  and  finished  to  the  honour  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  Virgin  Mary,  and  St.  Peter,  by 
'  his  son  king  Edward,  who  placed  therein  secular  canons  :  but  A.  D.  963  they 
'  were  expelled,  and  an  abbot  and  monks  put  in  possession  by  bishop  Ethelwold. 
"Now  the  churches  and  habitations  of  these  two  societies  being  so  very  near 
'  together,  the  differences  which  were  occasioned  by  their  singing,  bells,  and  other 
'  matters,  arose  to  so  great  a  height,  that  the  religious  of  the  new  monastery  thought 
'  fit,  about  A.  D.  1119,  to  remove  to  a  better  and  more  quiet  situation  without  the 
'  walls,  on  the  north  part  of  the  city  called  HYDE,  where  king  Henry  I.  at  the 
'  instance  of  Will,  Gifford,  bishop  of  Winton,  founded  a  stately  abbey  for  them. 
'  St.  Peter  was  generally  accounted  patron  ;  though  it  is  sometimes  called  the 
'monastery  of  St.  Grimbald,  and  sometimes  of  St.  Barnabas,"  &c. 

Note.     A  few  years  since  a  county  bridewell,  or  house  of  correction,  has  been 

built  on  the  immediate  site  of  Hide  Abbey.     In  digging  up  the  old  foundations  the 

workmen  found  the  head  of  a  crosier  in  good  preservation. 

1  Robert  Saunforde  was  master  of  the  Temple  in  1241 ;  Guido  de  Foresta  was  the 
next  in  1292.  The  former  is  fifth  in  a  list  of  the  masters  in  a  MS.  Bib.  Cotton. 
Nero.  E.  VI. 


272  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

Samford  to  the  priory  of  a  tenement  and  its  appurtenances  in  the 
village  of  Selborne,  given  to  the  Templars  by  Americus  de  Vasci.1 
This  property,  by  the  manner  of  describing  it, — "totum  tene- 
"mentum  cum  omnibus  pertinentiis  suis,  scilicet  in  terris,  & 
"  hominibus,  in  pratis  &  pascuis,  &  nemoribus,"  &c.  seems  to 
have  been  no  inconsiderable  purchase,  and  was  sold  for  two 
hundred  marks  sterling,  to  be  applied  for  the  buying  of  more 
land  for  the  support  of  the  holy  war. 

Prior  John  is  mentioned  as  the  person  to  whom  Vasci 's  land  is 
conveyed.  But  in  Willis's  list  there  is  no  prior  John  till  1339, 
several  years  after  the  dissolution  of  the  order  of  the  Templars  in 
1312 ;  so  that  unless  Willis  is  wrong,  and  has  omitted  a  prior 
John  since  1262  (that  being  the  date  of  his  first  prior)  these 
transactions  must  have  fallen  out  before  that  date. 

I  find  not  the  least  traces  of  any  concerns  between  Gurdon  and 
the  Knights  Templars  ;  but  probably  after  his  death  his  daughter 
Johanna  might  have,  and  might  bestow,  Temple  on  that  order  in 
support  of  the  holy  land :  and,  moreover,  she  seems  to  have  been 
moving  from  Selborne  when  she  sold  her  goods  and  chattels  to 
the  priory,  as  mentioned  above. 

Temple  no  doubt  did  belong  to  the  knights,  as  may  be  asserted, 
not  only  from  it's  name,  but  also  from  another  corroborating 
circumstance  of  it's  being  still  a  manor  tithe-free  ;  "  for,  by  virtue 
"  of  their  order,"  says  Dr.  Blackstone,  "  the  lands  of  the  Knights 
"  Templars  were  privileged  by  the  pope  with  a  discharge  from 
"  tithes." 

Antiquaries  have  been  much  puzzled  about  the  terms  preceptores 
and  preceptorium,  not  being  able  to  determine  what  officer  or 
edifice  was  meant.  But  perhaps  all  the  while  the  passage  quoted 
above  from  one  of  my  papers  "  per  manum  preceptoris  vel  ballivi 
"nostri,  qui  pro  tempore  fuerit  ibidem,"  may  help  to  explain  the 
difficulty.  For  if  it  be  allowed  here  that  preceptor  and  ballivus 
are  synonymous  words,  then  the  brother  who  took  on  him  that 
office  resided  in  the  house  of  the  Templars  at  Sudington,  a  pre- 
ceptory ;  where  he  was  there  preceptor,  superintended  their 
affairs,  received  their  money ;  and,  as  in  the  instance  there 
mentioned,  paid  from  their  chamber,  "  camera,"  as  directed :  so 
that,  according  to  this  explanation,  a  preceptor  was  no  other  than 
a  steward,  and  a  preceptorium  was  his  residence.  I  am  well  aware 

1  Americus  Vasci,  by  his  name,  must  have  been  an  Italian,  and  bad  been 
probably  a  soldier  of  fortune,  and  one  of  Gurdon' s  captains.  Americus  Vespucio, 
the  person  who  gave  name  to  the  new  world  was  a  Florentine. 


OF  SELBORNE  273 

that,  according  to  strict  Latin,  the  vel  should  have  been  sen  or 
sive,  and  the  order  of  the  words  " preceptoris  nostri,  vel  ballivi, 
"qui" — et  "ibidem"  should  have  been  ibi ;  ibidem  necessarily 
having  reference  to  two  or  more  persons :  but  it  will  hardly  be 
thought  fair  to  apply  the  niceties  of  classic  rules  to  the  Latinity  of 
the  thirteenth  century,  the  writers  of  which  seem  to  have  aimed 
at  nothing  farther  than  to  render  themselves  intelligible. 

There  is  another  remark  that  we  have  made,  which,  I  think, 
corroborates  what  has  been  advanced ;  and  that  is,  that  Richard 
Carpenter,  preceptor  of  Sudington,  at  the  time  of  the  transactions 
between  the  Templars  and  Selborne  Priory,  did  always  sign  last  as 
a  witness  in  the  three  deeds :  he  calls  himself  f  rater,  it  is  true, 
among  many  other  brothers,  but  subscribes  with  a  kind  of  defer- 
ence, as  if,  for  the  time  being,  his  office  rendered  him  an  inferior  in 
the  community.1 


LETTER  XII. 

THE  ladies  and  daughter  of  Sir  Adam  Gurdon  were  not  the  only 
benefactresses  to  the  Priory  of  Selborne;  for,  in  the  year  1281, 
Ela  Longspee  obtained  masses  to  be  performed  for  her  soul's 
health ;  and  the  prior  entered  into  an  engagement  that  one  of 
the  convent  should  every  day  say  a  special  mass  for  ever  for  the 
said  benefactress,  whether  living  or  dead.  She  also  engaged 
within  five  years  to  pay  to  the  said  convent  one  hundred  marks 
of  silver  for  the  support  of  a  chantry  and  chantry-chaplain,  who 
should  perform  his  masses  daily  in  the  parish  church  of  Selborne.2 

1  In  two  or  three  ancient  records  relating  to  St.  Oswald's  hospital  in  the  city  of 
Worcester,  printed  by  Dr.  Nash,  p.  227  and  228,  of  his  collections  for  the  history 

of  Worcestershire,  the  words  preceptorium  and  preceptoria  signify  the  mastership  of 
the  said  hospital :  "  ad  preceptorium  sive  magisterium  presentavit— /rar^/forzY  sive 
1 '  magisterii  patronus.  Vacavit  dicta  preceptoria  seu  magisterium — ad  preceptoriam 
"  et  regimen  dicti  hospitalis — Te  preceptorem  sive  magistrum  prefecimus." 

Where  preceptorium  denotes  a  building  or  apartment  it  may  probably  mean  the 
master's  lodgings,  or  at  least  the  preceptor's  apartment,  whatsoever  may  have  been 
the  office  or  employment  of  the  said  preceptor. 

A  preceptor  is  mentioned  in  Thoresby's  Ducatus  Leodinensis,  or  History  of  Leeds, 
p.  225,  and  a  deed  witnessed  by  the  preceptor  and  chaplain  before  dates  were 
inserted. — Du  Fresne's  Supplement:  "  Preceptorice,  praedia  preceptoribus  assig- 
"nata". — Cowell,  in  his  Law  Dictionary,  enumerates  sixteen  preceptoria,  or  pre- 
ceptories,  in  England;  but  Sudington  is  not  among  them. — It  is  remarkable  that 
Gurtlerus,  in  his  Historia  Templariorum  Amstel.  1691,  never  once  mentions  the 
words  preceptor  or  preceptorium. 

2  A  chantry  was  a  chapel  joined  to  some  cathedral  or  parish  church,  and  en- 
dowed with  annual  revenues  for  the  maintenance  of  one  or  more  priests  to  sing 
mass  daily  for  the  soul  of  the  founder,  and  others. 

18 


274  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

In  the  east  end  of  the  south  aile  there  are  two  sharp-pointed 
gothic  niches  ;  one  of  these  probably  was  the  place  under  which 
these  masses  were  performed ;  and  there  is  the  more  reason  to 
suppose  as  much,  because,  till  within  these  thirty  years,  this  space 
was  fenced  off  with  gothic  wooden  railing,  and  was  known  by  the 
name  of  the  south  chancel.1 

The  solicitude  expressed  by  the  donor  plainly  shews  her  piety 
and  firm  persuasion  of  the  efficacy  of  prayers  for  the  dead ;  for 
she  seems  to  have  made  every  provision  for  the  payment  of  the 
sum  stipulated  within  the  appointed  time ;  and  to  have  felt  much 
anxiety  lest  her  death,  or  the  neglect  of  her  executors  or  assigns, 
might  frustrate  her  intentions. — "  Et  si  contingat  me  in  solucione 
"predicte  pecunie  annis  predictis  in  parte  aut  in  toto  deficere, 
"  quod  absit ;  concedo  et  oblige  pro  me  et  assignatis  meis,  quod 

"  Vice-Comes Oxon  et qui  pro  tempore  fuerint,  per 

"  omnes  terras  et  tenementa,  et  omnia  bona  mea  mobilia  et  im- 
"  mobilia  ubicunque  in  balliva  sua  fuerint  inventa  ad  solucionem 
"predictam  faciendam  possent  nos  compellere."  And  again — 
"Et  si  contingat  dictos  religiosos  labores  seu  expensas  facere 
"  circa  predictam  pecuniam,  seu  circa  partem  dicte  pecunie ;  volo 
"  quod  dictorum  religiosorum  impense  et  labores  levantur  ita  quod 
"  predicto  priori  vel  uni  canonicorum  suorum  superhiis  simplici 
"  verbo  credatur  sine  alterius  honore  probacionis  ;  et  quod  utrique 
"  predictorum  virorum  in  unam  marcam  argenti  pro  cujuslibet 
"  distrincione  super  me  facienda  tenear. — Dat.  apud  Warebom 
"  die  sabati  proxima  ante  festum  St.  Marci  evangeliste,  anno  regni 
"  regis  Edwardi  tertio  decimo."  2 

But  the  reader  perhaps  would  wish  to  be  better  informed 
respecting  this  benefactress,  of  whom  as  yet  he  has  heard  no 
particulars. 

The  Ela  Longspee  therefore  above-mentioned  was  a  lady  of  high 
birth  and  rank,  and  became  countess  to  Thomas  de  Nervburgh,  the 
sixth  earl  of  Warwick  :  she  was  the  second  daughter  of  the  famous 
Ela  Longspee,  countess  of  Salisbury,  by  William  Longspee,  natural 
son  of  King  Henry  II.  by  Rosamond. 

!For  what  is  said  more  respecting  this  chantry  see  Letter  III.  of  these  Anti- 
quities.— Mention  is  made  of  a  Nicholas  Langrish,  capellanus  de  Selborne,  in  the 
time  of  Henry  VIII.  Was  he  chantry-chaplain  to  Ela  Longspee,  whose  masses 
were  probably  continued  to  the  time  of  the  reformation  ?  More  will  be  said  of  this 
person  hereafter. 

2  Ancient  deeds  are  often  dated  on  a  Sunday,  having  been  executed  in  churches 
and  church-yards  for  the  sake  of  notoriety,  and  for  the  conveniency  of  procuring 
several  witnesses  to  attest 


OF  SELBORNE  275 

Our  lady,  following  the  steps  of  her  illustrious  mother,1  "was 
"  a  great  benefactress  to  the  university  of  Oxford,  to  the  canons 
"  of  Oseney,  the  nuns  of  Godstorv,  and  other  religious  houses  in 
"  Oxfordshire.  She  died  very  aged  in  the  year  1 300,2  and  was 
"  buried  before  the  high  altar  in  the  abbey  church  of  Oseney,  at 
"the  head  of  the  tomb  of  Henry  D'Oily,  under  a  flat  marble, 
"  on  which  was  inlaid  her  portraiture,  in  the  habit  of  a  vowess, 
"  engraved  on  a  copper-plate." — Edmonsons  History  and  Genea- 
logical Account  of  the  Grevilles,  p.  23. 


LETTER  XIII. 

THE  reader  is  here  presented  with  five  forms  respecting  the 
choosing  of  a  prior ;  but  as  they  are  of  some  length  they  must 
be  reserved  for  the  Appendix  ;  their  titles  are  N°.  108.  "Charta 
"petens  licentiam  elegendi  prelatum  a  Domino  episcopo  Win- 
"toniensi  :  " — "  Forma  licentie  concesse  :  " — "  Forma  decreti 
"post  electionem  conficiendi:" — 108.  "Modus  procedendi  ad 
"  electionem  per  formam  scrutinii : " — et  "  Forma  ricte  presen- 
"tandi  electum."  Such  evidences  are  rare  and  curious,  and 
throw  great  light  upon  the  general  monastico-ecclesiastical  history 
of  this  kingdom,  not  yet  sufficiently  understood. 

In  the  year  1324  there  was  an  election  for  a  prior  at  Selborne  ; 
when  some  difficulties  occurring,  and  a  devolution  taking  place, 
application  was  made  to  Stratford,  who  was  bishop  of  Winchester 
at  that  time,  and  of  course  the  visitor  and  patron  of  the  convent 
at  the  spot  above-mentioned.3 

An  extract  from  REG.  STRATFORD.      W'mion. 

P.  4.  "  Commissio  facta  sub-priori  de  Selebourne  "  by  the  bishop 
enjoining  him  to  preserve  the  discipline  of  the  order  in  the  con- 
vent during  the  vacancy  made  by  the  late  death  of  the  prior, 
("nuper  pastoris  solatio  destituta,")  dated  4*°.  kal.  Maii.  ann.  2do 
sc.  of  his  consecration,  [sc.  1324.] 

1  Ela  Lortgspee,  countess  of  Salisbury,  in  1232  founded  a  monastery  at  Lacock, 
in  the  county  of  Wilts,  and  also  another  at  Hendon,  in  the  county  of  Somerset,  in 
her  widowhood,  to  the  honour  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  and  St.  Bernard.      CAMDEN. 

2  Thus  she  survived  the  foundation  of  her  chantry  at  Selborne  fifteen  years. 

About  this  lady  and  her  mother  consult  Dugdale's  Baronage,  I.  72,  175,  177. 

Dugdale1^  Warwickshire,  I.  383, — Leland's  Itin.  II.  45. 

s  Stratford  was  bishop  of  Winchester  from  1323  to  1333,  when  he  was  translated 
to  Canterbury. 


276  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

P.  6.  "Custodia  Prioratus  de  Seleburne  vacantis/'  committed 

by  the  bishop  to  Nicholas  de  la ,  a  layman,  it  belonging  to  the 

bishop  "ratione  vacationis  ejusdem/'  in  July  1324,  ibid,  "nego- 
"tium  electionis  de  Selebourne.  Acta  coram  Johanne  Episcopo, 
"&c.  1324  in  negotio  electionis  de  fratre  Waltero  de  Insula  con- 
"canonico  prioratus  de  Selebourne,"  lately  elected  by  the  sub-prior 
and  convent,  by  way  of  scrutiny :  that  it  appeared  to  the  bishop, 
by  certificate  from  the  dean  of  Alton,  that  solemn  citation  and 
proclamation  had  been  made  in  the  church  of  the  convent  where 
the  election  was  held,  that  any  who  opposed  the  said  election  or 
elected  should  appear. — Some  difficulties  were  started,  which  the 
bishop  over-ruled,  and  confirmed  the  election,  and  admitted  the 
new  prior  sub  hac  forma  : — 

"  In  Dei  nomine  Amen.  Ego  Johannes  permissione  divina,  &c. 
"  te  Walterum  de  Insula  ecclesie  de  Selebourne  nostre  dioceseos  nos- 
"  trique  patronatus  vacantis,  canonicum  et  cantorem,  virum  utique 
"  providum,  et  discretum,  literarum  scientia  preditum,  vita  moribus 
"  et  conversatione  merito  commendatum,  in  ordine  sacerdotali  et 
"  etate  legitima  constitutum,  de  legitimo  matrimonio  procreatum, 
"  in  ordine  et  religione  Sancti  Augustini  de  Selebourne  expresse  pro- 
"  fessum,  in  spiritualibus  et  temporalibus  circumspectum^'wre  nobis 
"  hac  vice  devoluto  in  hac  parte,  in  dicte  ecclesie  de  Selebourne 
"  perfectum  priorem ;  curam  et  administrationem  ejusdem  tibi 
"  in  spiritualibus  et  temporalibus  committ elites.  Dat.  apud  Sele- 
(t  bourne  XIII  kalend.  Augusti  anno  supradicto." 

There  follows  an  order  to  the  sub-prior  and  convent  pro  obe- 
dientia : 

A  mandate  to  Nicholas  above-named  to  release  the  Priory  to 
the  new  prior : 

A  mandate  for  the  induction  of  the  new  prior. 


LETTER  XIV. 

"  IN  the  year  1373  Wykeham,  bishop  of  Winchester,  held  a  visitation 
"  of  his  whole  diocese  ;  not  only  of  the  secular  clergy  through  the 
"  several  deaneries,  but  also  of  the  monasteries,  and  religious 
"  houses  of  all  sorts,  which  he  visited  in  person.  The  next  year 
"  he  sent  his  commissioners  with  power  to  correct  and  reform  the 
"  several  irregularities  and  abuses  which  he  had  discovered  in  the 
"  course  of  his  visitation. 

"  Some  years  afterwards,  the  bishop  having  visited  three  several 


OF  SELBORNE  277 

"  times  all  the  religious  houses  throughout  his  diocese,  and  being 
"  well  informed  of  the  state  and  condition  of  each,  and  of  the 
"particular  abuses  which  required  correction  and  reformation, 
"  besides  the  orders  which  he  had  already  given,  and  the  remedies 
"which  he  had  occasionally  applied  by  his  commissioners,  now 
"  issued  his  injunctions  to  each  of  them.  They  were  accommodated 
"  to  their  several  exigencies,  and  intended  to  correct  the  abuses 
"  introduced,  and  to  recall  them  all  to  a  strict  observation  of  the 
"rules  of  their  respective  orders.  Many  of  these  injunctions  are 
"  still  extant,  and  are  evident  monuments  of  the  care  and  attention 
"  with  which  he  discharged  this  part  of  his  episcopal  duty."  l 

Some  of  these  injunctions  I  shall  here  produce;  and  they  are 
such  as  will  not  fail,  I  think,  to  give  satisfaction  to  the  antiquary, 
both  as  never  having  been  published  before,  and  as  they  are  a 
curious  picture  of  monastic  irregularities  at  that  time. 

The  documents  that  I  allude  to  are  contained  in  the  Notabilis 
Visitatio  de  Selebume,  held  at  the  Priory  of  that  place,  by  Wykeham 
in  person,  in  the  year  1387. 

This  evidence,  in  the  original,  is  written  on  two  skins  of  parch- 
ment ;  the  one  large,  and  the  other  smaller,  and  consists  of  a 
preamble,  36  items,  and  a  conclusion,  which  altogether  evince  the 
patient  investigation  of  the  visitor,  for  which  he  had  always  been 
so  remarkable  in  all  matters  of  moment,  and  how  much  he  had 
at  heart  the  regularity  of  those  institutions,  of  whose  efficacy  in 
their  prayers  for  the  dead  he  was  so  firmly  persuaded.  As  the 
bishop  was  so  much  in  earnest,  we  may  be  assured  that  he  had 
nothing  in  view  but  to  correct  and  reform  what  he  found  amiss  ; 
and  was  under  no  bias  to  blacken,  or  misrepresent,  as  the  com- 
missioners of  Thomas  Lord  Cromwell  seem  in  part  to  have  done  at 
the  time  of  the  reformation.2  We  may  therefore  with  reason 
suppose  that  the  bishop  gives  us  an  exact  delineation  of  the  morals 
and  manners  of  the  canons  of  Selborne  at  that  juncture  ;  and  that 
what  he  found  they  had  omitted  he  enjoins  them  ;  and  for  what 
they  have  done  amiss,  and  contrary  to  their  rules  and  statutes,  he 
reproves  them  ;  and  threatens  them  with  punishment  suitable  to 
their  irregularities. 

This  visitatio  is  of  considerable  length,  and  cannot  be  introduced 
into  the  body  of  this  work  ;  we  shall  therefore  refer  the  reader  to 
the  Appendix,  where  he  will  find  every  particular,  while  we  shall 

1  See  Lowtk's  Life  of  Wykeham. 

2  Letters  of  this  sort  from  Dr.  Layton  to  Thomas  Lord  Cromwell  are  still  extant. 


278  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

take  some  notice,  and  make  some  remarks,  on  the  most  singular 
items  as  they  occur. 

In  the  preamble  the  visitor  says — "Considering  the  charge 
"lying  upon  us,  that  your  blood  may  not  be  required  at  our 
"  hands,  we  came  down  to  visit  your  Priory,  as  our  office  required  : 
"and  every  time  we  repeated  our  visitation  we  found  something 
"  still  not  only  contrary  to  regular  rules  but  also  repugnant  to 
"  religion  and  good  reputation." 

In  the  first  article  after  the  preamble — "  he  commands  them 
"  on  their  obedience,  and  on  pain  of  the  greater  excommunication, 
"  to  see  that  the  canonical  hours  by  night  and  by  day  be  sung  in 
"  their  choir,  and  the  masses  of  the  Blessed  Mary,  and  other  ac- 
"  customed  masses,  be  celebrated  at  the  proper  hours  with  devotion, 
"  and  at  moderate  pauses  ;  and  that  it  be  not  allowed  to  any  to 
"  absent  themselves  from  the  hours  and  masses,  or  to  withdraw 
"before  they  are  finished." 

Item  2d.  He  enjoins  them  to  observe  that  silence  to  which 
they  are  so  strictly  bound  by  the  rule  of  Saint  Augustine  at  stated 
times,  and  wholly  to  abstain  from  frivolous  conversation. 

Item  4th.  "  Not  to  permit  such  frequent  passing  of  secular 
"  people  of  both  sexes  through  their  convent,  as  if  a  thoroughfare, 
"  from  whence  many  disorders  may  and  have  arisen." 

Item  5th.  "  To  take  care  that  the  doors  of  their  church  and 
"  Priory  be  so  attended  to  that  no  suspected  and  disorderly 
"  females,  '  suspectae  et  aliae  inhonestae,'  pass  through  their  choir 
"  and  cloister  in  the  dark  ; "  and  to  see  that  the  doors  of  their 
church  between  the  nave  and  the  choir,  and  the  gates  of  their 
cloister  opening  into  the  fields,  be  constantly  kept  shut  until  their 
first  choir-service  is  over  in  the  morning,  at  dinner  time,  and  when 
they  meet  at  their  evening  collation.1 

Item  6th  mentions  that  several  of  the  canons  are  found  to  be 
very  ignorant  and  illiterate,  and  enjoins  the  prior  to  see  that  they 
be  better  instructed  by  a  proper  master. 

Item  8th.  The  canons  are  here  accused  of  refusing  to  accept 
of  their  statutable  clothing  year  by  year,  and  of  demanding  a 
certain  specified  sum  of  money,  as  if  it  were  their  annual  rent 
and  due.  This  the  bishop  forbids,  and  orders  that  the  canons 
shall  be  clothed  out  of  the  revenue  of  the  Priory,  and  the  old 
garments  be  laid  by  in  a  chamber  and  given  to  the  poor,  accord- 
ing to  the  rule  of  Saint  Augustine. 

1 A  collation  was  a  meal  or  repast  on  a  fast  day  in  lieu  of  a  supper, 


OF  SELBORNE  279 

In  Item  9th  is  a  complaint  that  some  of  the  canons  are  given 
to  wander  out  of  the  precincts  of  the  convent  without  leave  ;  and 
that  others  ride  to  their  manors  and  farms,  under  pretence  of 
inspecting  the  concerns  of  the  society,  when  they  please,  and  stay 
as  long  as  they  please.  But  they  are  enjoined  never  to  stir  either 
about  their  own  private  concerns  or  the  business  of  the  convent 
without  leave  from  the  prior :  and  no  canon  is  to  go  alone,  but 
to  have  a  grave  brother  to  accompany  him. 

The  injunction  in  Item  10th,  at  this  distance  of  time,  appears 
rather  ludicrous ;  but  the  visitor  seems  to  be  very  serious  on  the 
occasion,  and  says  that  it  has  been  evidently  proved  to  him  that 
some  of  the  canons,  living  dissolutely  after  the  flesh,  and  not  after 
the  spirit,  sleep  naked  in  their  beds  without  their  breeches  and 
shirts,  "  absque  femoralibus  et  camisiis  "^  He  enjoins  that  these 
culprits  shall  be  punished  by  severe  fasting,  especially  if  they 
shall  be  found  to  be  faulty  a  third  time  ;  and  threatens  the  prior 
and  sub-prior  with  suspension  if  they  do  not  correct  this  enormity. 

In  Item  1 1  th  the  good  bishop  is  very  wroth  with  some  of  the 
canons,  whom  he  finds  to  be  professed  hunters  and  sportsmen, 
keeping  hounds,  and  publicly  attending  hunting-matches.  These 
pursuits,  he  says,  occasion  much  dissipation,  danger  to  the  soul 
and  body,  and  frequent  expense ;  he,  therefore,  wishing  to  extir- 
pate this  vice  wholly  from  the  convent,  " radicibus  extirpare"  does 
absolutely  enjoin  the  canons  never  intentionally  to  be  present  at 
any  public  noisy  tumultuous  huntings  ;  or  to  keep  any  hounds, 
by  themselves  or  by  others,  openly  or  by  stealth,  within  the 
convent,  or  without.2 

In  Item  1 2th  he  forbids  the  canons  in  office  to  make  their  busi- 
ness a  plea  for  not  attending  the  service  of  the  choir ;  since  by 
these  means  either  divine  worship  is  neglected  or  their  brother- 
canons  are  over-burdened. 

By  Item  14th  we  are  informed  that  the  original  number  of 
canons  at  the  Priory  of  Selborne  was  jourteen ;  but  that  at  this 
visitation  they  were  found  to  be  let  down  to  eleven.  The  visitor 

1  The  rule  alluded  to  in  Item  xoth,  of  not  sleeping  naked,  was  enjoined  the 
Knights  Templars,  who  also  were  subject  to  the  rules  of  St.  Augustine. 

See  Gurtleri  Hist.  Templariorum. 

2  Considering  the  strong  propensity  in  human  nature  towards  the  pleasures  of 
the  chase,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  that  the  canons  of  Selborne  should  languish  after 
hunting,  when,  from  their  situation  so  near  the  precincts  of  Wolmer-forest,  the  kirg's 
hounds  must  have  been  often  in  hearing,  and  sometimes  in  sight  from  their  windows. 

If  the  bishop  was  so  offended  at  these  sporting  canons,  what  would  he  have  said 

to  our  modern  fox-hunting  divines  ? 


280  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

therefore  strongly  and  earnestly  enjoins  them  that,  with  all  due 
speed  and  diligence,  they  should  proceed  to  the  election  of  proper 
persons  to  fill  up  the  vacancies,  under  pain  of  the  greater  ex- 
communication. 

In  Item  17th  the  prior  and  canons  are  accused  of  suffering, 
through  neglect,  notorious  dilapidations  to  take  place  among  their 
manerial  houses  and  tenements,  and  in  the  walls  and  enclosures 
of  the  convent  itself,  to  the  shame  and  scandal  of  the  institution  ; 
they  are  therefore  enjoined,  under  pain  of  suspension,  to  repair 
all  defects  within  the  space  of  six  months. 

Item  18th  charges  them  with  grievously  burthening  the  said 
Priory  by  means  of  sales,  and  grants  of  liveries l  and  corrodies.2 

The  bishop,  in  Item  19th,  accuses  the  canons  of  neglect  and 
omission  with  respect  to  their  perpetual  chantry-services. 

Item  20th.  The  visitor  here  conjures  the  prior  and  canons  not 
to  withhold  their  original  alms,  "  eleemosynas"  ;  nor  those  that 
they  were  enjoined  to  distribute  for  the  good  of  the  souls  of 
founders  and  benefactors :  he  also  strictly  orders  that  the  frag- 
ments and  broken  victuals,  both  from  the  hall  of  their  prior  and 
their  common  refectory,  should  be  carefully  collected  together 
by  their  eleemosynarius,  and  given  to  the  poor  without  any  diminu- 
tion ;  the  officer  to  be  suspended  for  neglect  or  omission. 

Item  23d.  He  bids  them  distribute  their  pittances, <e  pitancias,"  B 
regularly  on  obits,  anniversaries,  festivals,  &c. 

Item  25th.  All  and  every  one  of  the  canons  are  hereby  in- 
hibited from  standing  godfather  to  any  boy  for  the  future,  "lie 
" compatres  alicujus  pueri  de  cetero  fieri  presumatis,"  unless  by 
express  license  from  the  bishop  obtained ;  because  from  such 
relationship  favour  and  affection,  nepotism,  and  undue  influence, 
arise,  to  the  injury  and  detriment  of  religious  institutions.4 

1 ' '  Liberationes,  or  liberaturce,  allowances  of  corn,  &c.  to  servants  delivered  at 
"certain  times,  and  in  certain  quantities,  as  clothes,  were  among  the  allowances 
"  from  religious  houses  to  their  dependants.  See  the  corrodies  granted  by  Cray  land 
"  abbey."  Hist,  of  Croyland,  Appendix,  N°  XXXIV. 

"It  is  not  improbable  that  the  word  in  after-ages  came  to  be  confined  to  the 
"uniform  of  the  retainers  or  servants  of  the  great,  who  were  hence  called  livery 
"servants."  Sir  John  Cullum's  Hist,  of  Hawsted. 

2  A  corrody  is  an  allowance  to  a  servant  living  in  an  abbey  or  priory. 

3  "  Pitancia,  an  allowance  of  bread  and  beer,  or  other  provision  to  any  pious 
"use,  especially  to  the  religious  in  a  monastery,  &c.  for  augmentation  of  their 
"commons."  Gloss,  to  Kennefs  Par.  Antiq. 

4 "The  relationship  between  sponsors  and  their  god-children,  who  were  called 
"spiritual  sons  and  daughters,  was  formerly  esteemed  much  more  sacred  than  at 
"present.  The  presents  at  christenings  were  sometimes  very  considerable:  the 
"  connection  lasted  through  life,  and  was  closed  with  a  legacy.  This  last  mark  of 


OF  SELBORNE  281 

Item  26th.  The  visitor  herein  severely  reprimands  the  canons 
for  appearing  publicly  in  what  would  be  called  in  the  universities 
an  unstatutable  manner,  and  for  wearing  of  boots,  "caligae  de 

"  Burneto,  et  sotularium in  ocrearum  loco,  ad  modum 

"sotularium".1 

It  is  remarkable  that  the  bishop  expresses  more  warmth  against 
this  than  any  other  irregularity  ;  and  strictly  enjoins  them,  under 
pain  of  ecclesiastical  censures,  and  even  imprisonment  if  necessary 
(a  threat  not  made  use  of  before),  for  the  future  to  wear  boots, 
"  ocreis  seu  botis,"  according  to  the  regular  usage  of  their  ancient 
order. 

Item  29th.  He  here  again,  but  with  less  earnestness,  forbids 
them  foppish  ornaments,  and  the  affectation  of  appearing  like 
beaux  with  garments  edged  with  costly  furs,  with  fringed  gloves, 
and  silken  girdles  trimmed  with  gold  and  silver.  It  is  remarkable 
that  no  punishment  is  annexed  to  this  injunction. 

Item  31st.  He  here  singly  and  severally  forbids  each  canon 
not  admitted  to  a  cure  of  souls  to  administer  extreme  unction,  or 
the  sacrament,  to  clergy  or  laity ;  or  to  perform  the  service  of 
matrimony,  till  he  has  taken  out  the  license  of  the  parish  priest. 

Item  32d.  The  bishop  says  in  this  item  that  he  had  observed 
and  found,  in  his  several  visitations,  that  the  sacramental  plate 
and  cloths  of  the  altar,  surplices,  &c.  were  sometimes  left  in  such 
an  uncleanly  and  disgusting  condition  as  to  make  the  beholders 
shudder  with  horror ; — "  quod  aliquibus  sunt  horrori ; "  2  he  there- 

"  attention  seems  to  have  been  thought  almost  indispensable:  for,  in  a  will,  from 
"  whence  no  extracts  have  been  given,  the  testator  left  every  one  of  his  god-children 
1 '  a  bushel  of  barley. ' '  Sir  John  Cullum's  Hist,  of  Hawsted. 

"  D.  Margarets  filiae  Regis  primogenitas,  quam  Jlliota.m,  quia  ejus  in  baptismo 
"  compater  fuit,  appellat,  cyphum  aureum  et  quadraginta  libras,  legavit." — Arch- 
bishop Parker  de  Antiquitate  Eccles.  Brit,  speaking  of  Archbishop  Morton. 

1  Du  Fresne  is  copious  on  caligce  of  several  sorts.     "Hoc  item  de  Clericis, 
'  presertim  beneficiatis :  caligis  scacatis  (chequered)  rubeis,  et  viridibus  publice 
'utentibus  dicimus  esse  censendum."     Statut.   Eccles.   Tutel.     The  chequered 
x>ots  seem  to  be  the   highland   plaid  stockings. — "  Burnetum,   i.e.   Brunetum, 
'  pannus  non  ex  lana  nativi  coloris  confectus." — "  Sotularium,  i.  e.  subtalaris,  quia 
'  sub  talo  est.      Peculium  genus,  quibus  maxime  Monachi  nocte  utebantur  in 
'  aestate  :  in  hyeme  vero  Soccis." 

This  writer  gives  many  quotations  concerning  Sotularia,  which  were  not  to  be 
made  too  shapely  ;  nor  were  the  caligce  to  be  laced  on  too  nicely. 

2  "  Men  abhorred  the  offering  of  the  Lord."    i  Sam.  chap.  ii.  v.  17.    Strange  as 
this  account  may  appear  to  modern  delicacy,  the  author,  when  first  in  orders, 
twice  met  with  similar  circumstances  attending  the  sacrament  at  two  churches 
belonging  to  two  obscure  villages.      In  the  first  he  found  the  inside  of  the  chalice 
covered  with  birds'  dung;   and  in  the  other  the  communion-cloth  soiled  with 
cabbage  and  the  greasy  drippings  of  a  gammon  of  bacon.     The  good  dame  at  the 


282  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

fore  enjoins  them  for  the  future  to  see  that  the  plate,  cloths,  and 
vestments,  be  kept  bright,  clean,  and  in  decent  order  :  and,  what 
must  surprise  the  reader,  adds — that  he  expects  for  the  future 
that  the  sacrist  should  provide  for  the  sacrament  good  wine,  pure 
and  unadulterated  ;  and  not,  as  had  often  been  the  practice,  that 
which  was  sour,  and  tending  to  decay : — he  says  farther,  that  it 
seems  quite  preposterous  to  omit  in  sacred  matters  that  attention 
to  decent  cleanliness,  the  neglect  of  which  would  disgrace  a 
common  convivial  meeting.1 

Item  33d  says  that,  though  the  relics  of  saints,  the  plate,  holy 
vestments,  and  books  of  religious  houses,  are  forbidden  by  canoni- 
cal institutes  to  be  pledged  or  lent  out  upon  pawn ;  yet,  as  the 
visitor  finds  this  to  be  the  case  in  his  several  visitations,  he 
therefore  strictly  enjoins  the  prior  forthwith  to  recall  those 
pledges,  and  to  restore  them  to  the  convent ;  and  orders  that 
all  the  papers  and  title  deeds  thereto  belonging  should  be  safely 
deposited,  and  kept  under  three  locks  and  keys. 

In  the  course  of  the  Visitatio  Notabilis  the  constitutions  of  Legate 
Ottobonus  are  frequently  referred  to.  Ottobonus  was  afterwards 
Pope  AdrianV.  and  died  in  1276.  His  constitutions  are  in  Lynde- 
wood's  Provinciate,  and  were  drawn  up  in  the  52d  of  Henry  III. 

In  the  Visitatio  Notabilis  the  usual  punishment  is  fasting  on 
bread  and  beer ;  and  in  cases  of  repeated  delinquency  on  bread 
and  water.  On  these  occasions  quarta  feria  et  sexta  Jeria,  are 
mentioned  often,  and  are  to  be  understood  of  the  days  of  the 
week  numerically  on  which  such  punishment  is  to  be  inflicted. 


LETTER  XV. 

THOUGH  bishop  Wykeham  appears  somewhat  stern  and  rigid  in  his 
visitatorial  character  towards  the  Priory  of  Selborne,  yet  he  was 
on  the  whole  a  liberal  friend  and  benefactor  to  that  convent, 
which,  like  every  other  society  or  individual  that  fell  in  his  way, 
partook  of  the  generosity  and  benevolence  of  that  munificent 
prelate. 

great  farm-house,  who  was  to  furnish  the  cloth,  being  a  notable  woman,  thought  it 
best  to  save  her  clean  linen,  and  so  sent  a  foul  cloth  that  had  covered  her  own 
table  for  two  or  three  Sundays  before. 

111 ne  turpe  toral,  ne  sordida  mappa 

"  Corruget  nares  ;  ne  non  et  cantharus,  et  lanx 
"  Ostendat  tibi  te " 


OF  SELBORNE  283 

"In  the  year  1377  William  of  Wykeham,  out  of  his  mere  good 
"  will  and  liberality,  discharged  the  whole  debts  of  the  prior  and 
"convent  of  Selborne,  to  the  amount  of  one  hundred  and  ten 
"  marks  eleven  shillings  and  sixpence ; 1  and,  a  few  years  before 
"  he  died,  he  made  a  free  gift  of  one  hundred  marks  to  the  same 
"  Priory :  on  which  account  the  prior  and  convent  voluntarily 
"  engaged  for  the  celebration  of  two  masses  a  day  by  two  canons 
"of  the  convent  for  ten  years,  for  the  bishop's  welfare,  if  he 
"  should  live  so  long  ;  and  for  his  soul  if  he  should  die  before  the 
"  expiration  of  this  term."  2 

At  this  distance  of  time  it  seems  matter  of  great  wonder  to  us 
how  these  societies,  so  nobly  endowed,  and  whose  members  were 
exempt  by  their  very  institution  from  every  means  of  personal  and 
family  expense,  could  possibly  run  in  debt  without  squandering 
their  revenues  in  a  manner  incompatible  with  their  function. 

Religious  houses  might  sometimes  be  distressed  in  their  re- 
venues by  fires  among  their  buildings,  or  large  dilapidations  from 
storms,  &c.  ;  but  no  such  accident  appears  to  have  befallen  the 
Priory  at  Selborne.  Those  situate  on  public  roads,  or  in  great 
towns,  where  there  were  shrines  of  saints,  were  liable  to  be  in- 
truded on  by  travellers,  devotees,  and  pilgrims  ;  and  were  subject 
to  the  importunity  of  the  poor,  who  swarmed  at  their  gates  to 
partake  of  doles  and  broken  victuals.  Of  these  disadvantages 
some  convents  used  to  complain,  and  especially  those  at  Canter- 
bun/  ;  but  this  Priory,  from  it's  sequestered  situation,  could  seldom 
be  subject  to  either  of  these  inconveniences,  and  therefore  we 
must  attribute  it's  frequent  debts  and  embarrassments,  well  en- 
dowed as  it  was,  to  the  bad  conduct  of  it's  members,  and  a  general 
inattention  to  the  interests  of  the  institution. 


LETTER  XVI. 

BEAUFORT  was  bishop  of  Winchester  from  1405  to  1447 ;  and  yet, 
notwithstanding  this  long  episcopate,  only  torn.  I.  of  Beaufort's 
Register  is  to  be  found.  This  loss  is  much  to  be  regretted,  as  it 
must  unavoidably  make  a  gap  in  the  history  of  Selborne  Priory, 
and  perhaps  in  the  list  of  it's  priors. 

1  Yet  in  ten  years  time  we  find,  by  the  Notabilis  Visitatio,  that  all  their  relics, 
plate,  vestments, 'title-deeds,  &c.  were  in  pawn. 

2  Lowth's  Life  of  Wykeham, 


284  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

In  1410  there  was  an  election  for  a  prior,  and  again  in  1411. 

In  vol.  I.  p.  24,  of  Beaufort's  Register,  is  the  instrument  of 
the  election  of  John  Wynchestre  to  be  prior — the  substance  as 
follows : 

Richard  Elstede,  senior  canon,  signifies  to  the  bishop  that  brother 
Thomas  Weston,  the  late  prior,  died  October  18th,  1410,  and  was 
buried  November  llth. — That  the  bishop's  license  to  elect  having 
been  obtained,  he  and  the  whole  convent  met  in  the  chapter- 
house, on  the  same  day,  about  the  hour  of  vespers,  to  consider  of 
the  election :  that  brother  John  Wynchestre,  then  sub-prior,  with 
the  general  consent,  appointed  the  12th  of  November,  ad  horam 
ejusdem  diei  capitularem,  for  the  business  : — when  they  met  in  the 
chapter-house,  post  missam  de  sancto  Spiritu,  solemnly  celebrated  in 
the  church  ; — to  wit,  Richard  Elstede  ;  Thomas  Halyborne ;  John 
Lemyngton,  sacrista  ;  John  Stepe,  cantor  :  Walter  Ffarnham  ;  Rich- 
ard Putrvorth,  celarius ;  Hugh  London ;  Henry  Brampton,  alias 
Brompton ;  John  Wynchestre,  senior;  John  Wynchestre,  junior; — 
then  "Proposito  primitus  verbo  Dei,"  and  then  ympno  "Veni 
Creator  Spiritus"  being  solemnly  sung,  "  cum  versiculo  et  oratione/' 
as  usual,  and  his  letter  of  license,  with  the  appointment  of  the  hour 
and  place  of  election,  being  read,  (<altavoce,  in  valvis"  of  the  chapter- 
house ; — John  Wynchestre,  senior,  the  sub-prior,  in  his  own  behalf 
and  that  of  all  the  canons,  and  by  their  mandate,  "quasdam 
"  monicionem  et  protestacionem  in  scriptis  redactas  fecit,  legit,  et 
"  interposuit " — that  all  persons  disqualified,  or  not  having  right  to 
be  present,  should  immediately  withdraw  ;  and  protesting  against 
their  voting,  &c. — that  then  having  read  the  constitution  of  the 
general  council  "  Quia  propter,"  and  explained  the  modes  of  pro- 
ceeding to  election,  they  agreed  unanimously  to  proceed  "  per 
"viam  seu  formam  simplids  compromissi"  ;  when  John  Wynchestre, 
sub-prior,  and  all  the  others  (the  commissaries  undernamed 
excepted)  named  and  chose  brothers  Richard  Elstede,  Thomas 
Halyborne,  John  Lemyngton  the  sacrist,  John  Stepe,  chantor,  and 
Richard  Putrvorth,  canons,  to  be  commissaries,  who  were  sworn 
each  to  nominate  and  elect  a  fit  person  to  be  prior :  and  em- 
powered by  letters  patent  under  the  common  seal,  to  be  in  force 
only  until  the  darkness  of  the  night  of  the  same  day  ; — that  they, 
or  the  greater  part  of  them,  should  elect  for  the  whole  convent, 
within  the  limited  time,  from  their  own  number,  or  from  the  rest 
of  the  convent ; — that  one  of  them  should  publish  their  consent 
in  common  before  the  clergy  and  people  : — they  then  all  promised 
to  receive  as  prior  the  person  these  five  canons  should  fix  on, 


OF  SELBORNE  285 

These  commissaries  seceded  from  the  chapter-house  to  the  re- 
fectory of  the  Priory,  and  were  shut  in  with  master  John  Penkester, 
bachelor  of  laws  ;  and  John  Couke  and  John  Lynne,  perpetual  vicars 
of  the  parish  churches  of  Newton  and  Selborne  ;  and  with  Sampson 
Maycock,  a  public  notary ;  where  they  treated  of  the  election ; 
when  they  unanimously  agreed  on  John  Wynchestre,  and  appointed 
Thomas  Halyborne,  to  chuse  him  in  common  for  all,  and  to  publish 
the  election,  as  customary ;  and  returned  long  before  it  was  dark 
to  the  chapter-house,  where  Thomas  Halyborne  read  publicly  the 
instrument  of  election ;  when  all  the  brothers,  the  new  prior  ex- 
cepted,  singing  solemnly  the  hymn  "  Te  Deum  laudamus,"  fecerunt 
deportari  novum  electum,  by  some  of  the  brothers,  from  the  chapter- 
house to  the  high  altar  of  the  church  ; 1  and  the  hymn  being  sung, 
dictisque  versiculo  et  oratione  consuetis  in  hac  parte,  Thomas  Haly- 
borne, mox  time  ibidem,  before  the  clergy  and  people  of  both  sexes 
solemnly  published  the  election  in  vulgari.  Then  Richard  Elstede, 
and  the  whole  convent  by  their  proctors  and  nuncios  appointed  for 
the  purposes,  Thomas  Halyborne  and  John  Stepe  required  several 
times  the  assent  of  the  elected ;  "  et  tandem  post  diutinas  inter- 
"  pellationes,  et  deliberationem  providam  penes  se  habitam,  in  hac 
"  parte  divine  nolens,  ut  asseruit,  resistere  voluntati,"  within  the 
limited  time  he  signified  his  acceptance  in  the  usual  written  form 
of  words.  The  bishop  is  then  supplicated  to  confirm  their  election, 
and  do  the  needful,  under  common  seal,  in  the  chapter-house. 
November  14,  1410. 

The  bishop,  January  6,  1410,  apud  Esher  in  camera  inferiori, 
declared  the  election  duly  made,  and  ordered  the  new  prior  to 
be  inducted — for  this  the  archdeacon  of  Winchester  was  written 
to;  "stallumque  in  choro,  et  locum  in  capitulo  juxta  morem 
"  preteriti  temporis,"  to  be  assigned  him  ;  and  every  thing  beside 
necessary  to  be  done. 

BEAUFORT'S  REGISTER,  Vol.  I. 

P.  2.  Taxatio  spiritualis  Decanatus  de  Aulton,  Ecclesia  de  Sele- 
bourn,  cum  Capella, — xxx  marc,  decima  x  lib.  iii  sol.  Vicaria  de 
Selebourn  non  taxatur  propter  exilitatem. 

P.  9-  Taxatio  bonorum  temporalium  religiosorum  in  Archidiac. 

Wynton. 

1  It  seems  here  as  if  the  canons  used  to  chair  their  new  elected  prior  from  the 
chapter-house  to  the  high  altar  of  their  convent-church.  In  letter  XXI,  on  the  same 
occasion,  it  is  said — ' '  et  sic  canentes  dictum  electum  ad  majus  altare  ecclesie  deduxi- 
"  mus,  ut  apud  nos  moris  est ". 


286  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

Prior  de  Selebourn  habet  maneria  de 

Bromdene  taxat.  ad--------     xxx  s.  ii  d. 

Apud  Schete  ad      ---------     xvii  s. 

P.  Selebourn  ad      ---------     vi  lib. 

In  civitate  Wynton  de  reddit    -----     vi  lib.  viii  ob. 

Tannaria  sua  taxat.  ad-------x  lib.  s. 

Summa  tax.  xxxviii  lib.  xiiii  d.  ob.  Inde  decima  vi  lib.  s.  q.  ob. 


LETTER  XVII. 

INFORMATION  being  sent  to  Rome  respecting  the  havock  and  spoil 
that  was  carrying  on  among  the  revenues  and  lands  of  the  Priory 
of  Selborne,  as  we  may  suppose  by  the  bishop  of  Winchester,  it's 
visitor,  Pope  Martin,1  as  soon  as  the  news  of  these  proceedings 
came  before  him,  issued  forth  a  bull,  in  which  he  enjoins  his  com- 
missary immediately  to  revoke  all  the  property  that  had  been 
alienated. 

In  this  instrument  his  holiness  accuses  the  prior  and  canons  of 
having  granted  away  (they  themselves  and  their  predecessors)  to 
certain  clerks  and  laymen  their  tithes,  lands,  rents,  tenements, 
and  possessions,  to  some  of  them  for  their  lives,  to  others  for  an 
undue  term  of  years,  and  to  some  again  for  a  perpetuity,  to  the 
great  and  heavy  detriment  of  the  monastery :  and  these  leases 
were  granted,  he  continues  to  add,  under  their  own  hands,  with 
the  sanction  of  an  oath  and  the  renunciation  of  all  right  and 
claims,  and  under  penalties,  if  the  right  was  not  made  good. — 
But  it  will  be  best  to  give  an  abstract  from  the  bull. 

N.  298.  Pope  Martins  bull  touching  the  revoking  of  certaine 
things  alienated  from  the  Priory  of  Seleburne.  Pontif.  sui.  ann.  1. 

"  Martinus  Eps.  servus  servorum  Dei.  Dilecto  filio  Priori  de 
"Suthvale2  Wyntonien.  dioc.  Salutem  &  apostolicam  ben.  Ad 
"audientiam  nostram  pervenit  quam  tarn  dilecti  filii  prior  et 
"conventus  monasterii  de  Seleburn  per  Priorem  soliti  gubernari 
"  ordinis  Stl.  Augustini  Winton.  dioc.  quam  de  predecessores  eorum 
"  decimas,  terras,  redditus,  domos,  possessiones,  vineas*  et  quedam 

1  Pope  Martin  V.  chosen  about  1417.     He  attempted  to  reform  the  church,  but 
died  in  1431,  just  as  he  had  summoned  the  council  of  Basil. 

2  Should  have  been  no  doubt  Southwick,  a  priory  under  Portsdown. 

3  Mr.  Barrington  is  of  opinion  that  anciently  the  English  vinea  was  in  almost 
every  instance  an  orchard ;  not  perhaps  always  of  apples  merely,  but  of  other 


OF  SELBOENE  287 

"alia  bona  ad  monasterium  ipsum  spectantia,  datis  super  hoc 
"litteris,  interpositis  juramentis,  factis  renuntiationibus,  et  penis 
"adjectis,  in  gravem  ipsius  monasterii  lesionem,  nonnullis  clericis 
"  et  laicis,  aliquibus  eorum  ad  vitam,  quibusdam  vero  ad  non 
"modicum  tempus,  &  aliis  perpetuo  ad  firmam,  vel  sub  censu 
"  annuo  concesserunt ;  quorum  aliqui  dicunt  super  hiis  a  sede 
"aplica  in  communi  forma  confirmationis  litteras  impetrasse. 
"  Quia  vero  nostra  interest  lesis  monasteriis  subvenire — [He  the 
"Pope  here  commands] — ea  ad  jus  et  proprietatem  monasterii 
"studeas  legitime  revocare,"  &c. 

The  conduct  of  the  religious  had  now  for  some  time  been 
generally  bad.  Many  of  the  monastic  societies,  being  very 
opulent,  were  become  voluptuous  and  licentious,  and  had  deviated 
entirely  from  their  original  institutions.  The  laity  saw  with  in- 
dignation the  wealth  and  possessions  of  their  pious  ancestors 
perverted  to  the  service  of  sensuality  and  indulgence  ;  and  spent 
in  gratifications  highly  unbecoming  the  purposes  for  which  they 
were  given.  A  total  disregard  to  their  respective  rules  and  dis- 
cipline drew  on  the  monks  and  canons  a  heavy  load  of  popular 
odium.  Some  good  men  there  were  who  endeavoured  to  oppose 
the  general  delinquency  ;  but  their  efforts  were  too  feeble  to 
stem  the  torrent  of  monastic  luxury.  As  far  back  as  the  year 
1381  Wickliffes  principles  and  doctrines  had  made  some  progress, 
were  well  received  by  men  who  wished  for  a  reformation,  and 
were  defended  and  maintained  by  them  as  long  as  they  dared ; 
till  the  bishops  and  clergy  began  to  be  so  greatly  alarmed,  that 
they  procured  an  act  to  be  passed  by  which  the  secular  arm  was 
empowered  to  support  the  corrupt  doctrines  of  the  church ;  but 
the  first  lollard  was  not  burnt  until  the  year  1401. 

The  wits  also  of  those  times  did  not  spare  the  gross  morals  of 
the  clergy,  but  boldly  ridiculed  their  ignorance  and  profligacy. 
The  most  remarkable  of  these  were  Chaucer,  and  his  contem- 
porary Robert  Langelande,  better  known  by  the  name  of  Piers 
Plowman.  The  laughable  tales  of  the  former  are  familiar  to  almost 
every  reader  ;  while  the  visions  of  the  latter  are  but  in  few  hands. 
With  a  quotation  from  the  Passus  Decimus  of  this  writer  I  shall 
conclude  my  letter  ;  not  only  on  account  of  the  remarkable  pre- 
diction therein  contained,  which  carries  with  it  somewhat  of  the 

fruits ;  as  cherries,  plums,  and  currants.  We  still  say  a  plum  or  cherry-orchard. 
See  vol.  III.  of  Archceologia. 

In  the  instance  above  the  pope's  secretary  might  insert  vineas  merely  because 
they  were  a  species  of  cultivation  familiar  to  him  in  Italy. 


288  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

air  of  a  prophecy ;  but  also  as  it  seems  to  have  been  a  striking 
picture  of  monastic  insolence  and  dissipation ;  and  a  specimen 
of  one  of  the  keenest  pieces  of  satire  now  perhaps  subsisting 
in  any  language,  ancient  or  modern. 

"  Now  is  religion  a  rider,  a  romer  by  streate  ; 
"  A  leader  of  love-days,  and  a  loud  begger ; 
"  A  pricker  on  a  palfrey  from  maner  to  maner, 
"  A  heape  of  hounds  at  his  arse,  as  he  a  lord  were. 
"  And  but  if  his  knave  kneel,  that  shall  his  cope  bring, 
"  He  loureth  at  him,  and  asketh  him  who  taught  him  curtesie. 
"  Little  had  lords  to  done,  to  give  lands  from  her  heirs, 
"  To  religious  that  have  no  ruth  if  it  rain  on  her  altars. 
"  In  many  places  ther  they  persons  be,  by  himself  at  ease : 
"  Of  the  poor  have  they  no  pity,  and  that  is  her  charitie ; 
"  And  they  letten  hem  as  lords,  her  lands  lie  so  broad. 
"  And  there  shal  come  a  king,1  and  confess  you  religious  ; 
"  And  beate  you,  as  the  bible  telleth,  for  breaking  your  rule, 
"  And  amend  monials,  and  monks,  and  chanons, 
"  And  put  hem  to  her  penaunce  ad  pristinum  statum  ire." 


LETTER  XVIII. 

WILLIAM  of  Waynflete  became  bishop  of  Winchester  in  the  year 
1447,  and  seems  to  have  pursued  the  generous  plan  of  Wykeham 
in  endeavouring  to  reform  the  Priory  of  Selbome. 

When  Waynflete  came  to  the  see  he  found  prior  Stype,  alias 
Stepe,  still  living,  who  had  been  elected  as  long  ago  as  the  year 
1411. 

Among  my  documents  I  find  a  curious  paper  of  the  things  put 
into  the  custody  of  Peter  Bernes  the  sacrist,  and  especially  some 
relics :  the  title  of  this  evidence  is  "  N°  50,  Indentura  prioris  de 
"  Selborne  quorundam  tradit.  Petro  Bernes  sacristae,  ibidem,  ann. 

1  F.  i.  a.  "This  prediction,  although  a  probable  conclusion  concerning  a  king 
"  who  after  a  time  would  suppress  the  religious  houses,  is  remarkable.  I  imagined 
"  it  might  have  been  foisted  into  the  copies  in  the  reign  of  king  Henry  VIII.  but  it 
"  is  to  be  found  in  MSS.  of  this  poem,  older  than  the  year  1400."  fol.  1.  a.  b. 

"Again,  where  he,  Piers  Plowman,  alludes  to  the  Knights  Templars,  lately 
suppressed,  he  says, 

" Men  of  holie  kirk 

1 '  Shall  turn  as  Templars  did  ;  the  tyme  approacheth  nere. ' ' 
"  This,  I  suppose,  was  a  favourite  doctrine  in  Wickliffe"^  discourses." 

Warton's  Hist,  of  English  Poetry,  Vol.  I.  p.  282. 


OF  SELBOENE  289 

"  Hen.  VI. una  cum  confiss.  ejusdem  Petri  script."  The 

occasion  of  this  catalogue,  or  list  of  effects,  being  drawn  between 
the  prior  and  sacrist  does  not  appear,  nor  the  date  when ;  only 
that  it  happened  in  the  reign  of  Hen.  VI.  This  transaction  pro- 
bably took  place  when  Bernes  entered  on  his  office ;  and  there  is 
the  more  reason  to  suppose  that  to  be  the  case,  because  the  list 
consists  of  vestments  and  implements,  and  relics,  such  as  belonged 
to  the  church  of  the  Priory,  and  fell  under  the  care  of  the  sacrist. 
For  the  numerous  items  I  shall  refer  the  curious  reader  to  the 
Appendix,  and  shall  just  mention  the  relics,  although  they  are 
not  all  specified  ;  and  the  state  of  the  live  stock  of  the  monastery 
at  that  juncture. 

11  Item  2.  osculatdr.  argent. 

"Item  1.  osculatorium  cum  osse  digiti  auricular. — Sfi.  Johannis 
Baptistce.1 

"Item  1.  parvam  crucern  cum  V.  reliquiis. 

"Item  1.  anulum  argent,  et  deauratum  St.  Edmundi.2 

"Item  2.  osculat.  de  coper. 

"Item  I.junctorium  St.  Ricardi.3 

"  Item  1.  pecten  St.  Ricardi."  4 

The  staurum,  or  live  stock,  is  quite  ridiculous,  consisting  only 
of  "  2  vacce,  1  sus,  4  hoggett.  et  4  porcell."  viz.  two  cows,  one  sow, 
four  porkers,  and  four  pigs. 

1  How  the  convent  came  by  the  bone  of  the  little  finger  of  Saint  John  the  Baptist 
does  not  appear  ;  probably  the  founder,  while  in  Palestine,  purchased  it  among  the 
Asiatics,  who  were  at  that  time  great  traders  in  relics.     We  know  from  the  best 
authority  that  as  soon  as  Herod  had  cruelly  beheaded  that  holy  man  "  his  disciples 
"  came  and  took  up  the  body  and  buried  it,  and  went  and  told  Jesus  ".     Matt.  iv. 
12. — Farther  would  be  difficult  to  say. 

2  November  20,  in  the  calendar,  Edmund  king  and  martyr,  in  the  9th  century. 
See  also  a  Sanctus  Edmundus  in  God-win,  among  the  archbishops  of  Canterbury \ 
in  the  i3th  century  ;  his  surname  Rich,  in  1234. 

3  April  3,  ibid.     Richard  bishop  of  Chichester,  in  the  i3th  century ;  his  surname 
De  la  Wich,  in  1245. 

Junctorium,  perhaps  a  joint  or  limb  of  St.  Richard ;  but  what  particular  joint 
the  religious  were  not  such  osteologists  as  to  specify.  This  barbarous  word  was 
not  to  be  found  in  any  dictionary  consulted  by  the  author. 

4  "Pecten  inter  ministeria  sacra  recensetur,  quo  scil.  sacerdotes  ac  clerici,  ante- 
"  quam  in  ecclesiam  procederent,  crines  pecterent.     E  quibus  colligitur  monachos, 
"  tune  temporis,  non  omnino  tonsos  fuisse."  Du  Fresne. 

The  author  remembers  to  have  seen  in  great  farm  houses  a  family  comb 
chained  to  a  post  for  the  use  of  the  hinds  when  they  came  into  their  meals. 


19 


290  THE  ANTIQUITIES 


LETTER  XIX. 

STEPE  died  towards  the  end  of  the  year  1453,  as  we  may  suppose 
pretty  far  advanced  in  life,  having  been  prior  forty-four  years. 

On  the  very  day  that  the  vacancy  happened,  viz.  January  26, 
1453-4,  the  sub-prior  and  convent  petitioned  the  visitor — "vos 
"  unicum  levamen  nostrum,  et  spem  unanimiter  rogamus,  quatinus 
"  eligendum  ex  nobis  unum  confratrem  de  gremio  nostro,  in  nostra 
"religione  probatum  et  expertem,  licenciam  vestram  paternalem 
"  cum  plena  libertate  nobis  concedere  dignemini  graciose  ". 

Reg.  Waynflete,  torn.  I. 

Instead  of  the  licence  requested  we  find  next  a  commission 
"  custodie  prioratus  de  Selebourne  durante  vacatione,"  addressed 
to  brother  Peter  Berne,  canon-regular  of  the  priory  of  Selebourne, 
and  of  the  order  of  St.  Augustine,  appointing  him  keeper  of  the 
said  priory,  and  empowering  him  to  collect  and  receive  the  profits 
and  revenues, and  "alia  bona  "  of  the  said  priory  ;  and  to  exercise 
in  every  respect  the  full  power  and  authority  of  a  prior  ;  but  to  be 
responsible  to  the  visitor  finally,  and  to  maintain  this  superiority 
during  the  bishop's  pleasure  only.  This  instrument  is  dated 
from  the  bishop's  manor-house  in  Southwark,  March  1,  1453-4, 
and  the  seventh  of  his  consecration. 

After  this  transaction  it  does  not  appear  that  the  chapter  of 
the  Priory  proceeded  to  any  election ;  on  the  contrary,  we 
find  that  at  six  months  end  from  the  vacancy  the  visitor  declared 
that  a  lapse  had  taken  place ;  and  that  therefore  he  did  confer 
the  priorship  on  canon  Peter  Berne. — "  Prioratum  vacantem  et  ad 
"nostram  collationem,  seu  provisionem  jure  ad  nos  in  hac  parte 
"per  lapsum  temporis  legitime  devoluto  spectantem,  tibi  (sc.  P. 
"  Berne)  de  legitimo  matrimonio  procreate,  &c. — conferimus,"  &c. 
This  deed  bears  date  July  28,  1454. 

Reg.  Waynflete,  torn.  I.  p.  69- 

On  February  8,  1462,  the  visitor  issued  out  a  power  of  seques- 
tration against  the  Priory  of  Selborne  on  account  of  notorious 
dilapidations,  which  threatened  manifest  ruin  to  the  roofs,  walls, 
and  edifices,  of  the  said  convent ;  and  appointing  John  Ham- 
mond, B.D.  rector  of  the  parish  church  of  Hetlegh,  John  Hylling, 
vicar  of  the  parish  church  of  Newton  Valence,  and  Walter  Gorfin, 
inhabitant  of  the  parish  of  Selborne,  his  sequestrators,  to  exact, 
collect,  levy,  and  receive,  all  the  profits  and  revenues  of  the  said 


OF  SELBORNE  291 

convent :  he  adds  "  ac  ea  sub  arcto,  et  tuto  custodiatis,  custo- 
"  dirive  faciatis  "  ;  as  they  would  answer  it  to  the  bishop  at  their 
peril. 

In  consequence  of  these  proceedings  prior  Berne,  on  the  last 
day  of  February,  and  the  next  year,  produced  a  state  of  the 
revenues  of  the  Priory,  N°.  381,  called  "A  paper  conteyning  the 
"value  of  the  manors  and  lands  pertayning  to  the  Priory  of 
"  Selborne.  4  Edward  III.  with  a  note  of  charges  yssuing  out 
"of  it." 

This  is  a  curious  document,  and  will  appear  in  the  Appendix. 
From  circumstances  in  this  paper  it  is  plain  that  the  sequestration 
produced  good  effects  ;  for  in  it  are  to  be  found  bills  of  repairs 
to  a  considerable  amount. 

By  this  evidence  also  it  appears  that  there  were  at  that  juncture 
only  four  canons  at  the  Priory ;  *  and  that  these,  and  their  four 
household  servants,  during  this  sequestration  for  their  clothing, 
wages,  and  diet,  were  allowed  per  ann.  xxx  lib.  ;  and  that  the 
annual  pension  of  the  lord  prior,  reside  where  he  would,  was  to 
be  x  lib. 

In  the  year  1468,  prior  Berne,  probably  wearied  out  by  the 
dissensions  and  want  of  order  that  prevailed  in  the  convent, 
resigned  his  priorship  into  the  hands  of  the  bishop. 

REG.  WAYNFLETE,  torn.  I.  pars  lma,  fol.  157. 

March  28,  A.D.  1468.  "In  quadam  alta camera  juxta  magnam 
"  portam  manerii  of  the  bishop  of  Wynton  de  Waltham  coram  eodem 
"rev.  patre  ibidem  tune  sedente,  Peter  Berne,  prior  of  Selbome, 
"  ipsum  prioratum  in  sacras,  et  venerabiles  manus  of  the  bishop,  viva 
"  voce  libere  resignavit  "  :  and  his  resignation  was  admitted  before 
two  witnesses  and  a  notary-public.  In  consequence,  March  29th, 
before  the  bishop,  "  in  capella  manerii  sui  ante  dicti  pro  tribunali 
"  sedente,  comparuerunt  fratres "  Peter  Berne,  Thomas  London, 
William  Wyndesor,  and  William  Paynell,  alias  Stretford,  canons 
regular  of  the  priory,  "  capitulum,  et  conventum  ejusdem  ecclesie 
"  facientes ;  ac  jus  et  voces  in  electione  futura  prioris  dicti  prio- 
"  ratus  solum  et  in  solidum,  ut  asseruerunt,  habentes  "  ;  and  after 
the  bishop  had  notified  to  them  the  vacancy  of  a  prior,  with  his 
free  license  to  elect,  deliberated  awhile,  and  then,  by  way  of 
compromise,  as  they  affirmed,  unanimously  transferred  their  right 

1  If  bishop  Wykeham  was  so  disturbed  (see  Notab.  Visitatio]  to  find  the  number 
of  canons  reduced  from  fourteen  to  eleven,  what  would  he  have  said  to  have  seen 
it  diminished  below  one  third  of  that  number? 


292  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

of  election  to  the  bishop  before  witnesses.  In  consequence  of 
this  the  bishop,  after  full  deliberation,  proceeded,  April  7th,  "  in 
"  capella  manerii  sui  de  Waltham,"  to  the  election  of  a  prior  :  "  et 
"fratrem  Johannem  Morton,  priorem  ecclesie  conventualis  de 
"  Reygate  dicti  ordinis  Su.  Augustini  Wynton.  dioc.  in  priorem  vice  et 
"nomine  omnium  et  singulorum  canonicorum  predictorum  elegit, 
"in  ordine  sacerdotali,  et  etate  licita  constitutum,  £c."  And  on 
the  same  day,  in  the  same  place,  and  before  the  same  witnesses, 
John  Morton  resigned  to  the  bishop  the  priorship  of  Reygate  viva 
voce.  The  bishop  then  required  his  consent  to  his  own  election  ; 
"  qui  licet  in  parte  renitens  tanti  reverendi  patris  se  confirmans," 
obeyed,  and  signified  his  consent  oraculo  vive  vocis.  Then  was  there 
a  mandate  citing  any  one  who  would  gainsay  the  said  election  to 
appear  before  the  bishop  or  his  commissary  in  his  chapel  at  Farn- 
ham  on  the  second  day  of  May  next.  The  dean  of  the  deanery 
of  Aulton  then  appeared  before  the  chancellor,  his  commissary, 
and  returned  the  citation  or  mandate  dated  April  22d,  14-68, 
with  signification,  in  writing,  of  his  having  published  it  as  re- 
quired, dated  Newton  Valence,  May  1st,  1468.  This  certificate 
being  read,  the  four  canons  of  Selborne  appeared  and  required  the 
election  to  be  confirmed  ;  et  ex  super  abundanti  appointed  William 
Long  their  proctor  to  solicit  in  their  name  that  he  might  be 
canonically  confirmed.  John  Morton  also  appeared,  and  pro- 
clamation was  made  ;  and  no  one  appearing  against  him,  the 
commissary  pronounced  all  absentees  contumacious,  and  pre- 
cluded them  from  objecting  at  any  other  time ;  and,  at  the 
instance  of  John  Morton  and  the  proctor,  confirmed  the  election 
by  his  decree,  and  directed  his  mandate  to  the  rector  of  Hedley, 
and  the  vicar  of  Newton  Valence  to  install  him  in  the  usual  form. 
Thus,  for  the  first  time,  was  a  person,  a  stranger  to  the  convent 
of  Selborne,  and  never  canon  of  that  monastery,  elected  prior ; 
though  the  style  of  the  petitions  in  former  elections  used  to  run 

thus, — "  Vos rogamus  quatinus  eligendum  ex  nobis  unum 

"  confratrem   de   gremio   nostro, — licentiam    vestram — nobis    con- 
"  cedere  dignemini ". 


LETTER  XX. 

PRIOR  Morton  dying  in  1471,  two  canons,  by  themselves,  pro- 
ceeded to  election,  and  chose  a  prior  ;  but  two  more  (one  of  them 
Berne)  complaining  of  not  being  summoned,  objected  to  the 


OF  SELBORNE  293 

proceedings  as  informal ;  till  at  last  the  matter  was  compromised 
that  the  bishop  should  again,  for  that  turn,  nominate  as  he  had 
before.  But  the  circumstances  of  this  election  will  be  best 
explained  by  the  following  extract : 

REG.  WAYNFLETE,  torn.  II.  pars  lm*,  fol.  7. 
Memorandum.     A.D.  1471.     August  22. 

William  Wyndesor,  a  canon -regular  of  the  Priory  of  Selborne, 
having  been  elected  prior  on  the  death  of  brother  John,  appeared 
in  person  before  the  bishop  in  his  chapel  at  South  Waltham.  He 
was  attended  on  this  occasion  by  Thomas  London  and  John  Bromes- 
grove,  canons,  who  had  elected  him.  Peter  Berne  and  William 
Stratfeld,  canons,  also  presented  themselves  at  the  same  time, 
complaining  that  in  this  business  they  had  been  overlooked,  and 
not  summoned ;  and  that  therefore  the  validity  of  the  election 
might  with  reason  be  called  in  question,  and  quarrels  and  dissen- 
sions might  probably  arise  between  the  newly  chosen  prior  and 
the  parties  thus  neglected. 

After  some  altercation  and  dispute  they  all  came  to  an  agree- 
ment with  the  new  prior  that  what  had  been  done  should  be 
rejected  and  annulled ;  and  that  they  would  again,  for  this  turn, 
transfer  to  the  bishop  their  power  to  elect,  order,  and  provide 
them  another  prior,  whom  they  promised  unanimously  to  admit. 

The  bishop  accepted  of  this  offer  before  witnesses  ;  and  on  Sep- 
tember 27,  in  an  inner  chamber  near  the  chapel  above-mentioned, 
after  full  deliberation,  chose  brother  Thomas  Fainvise,  vicar  of 
Somborne,  a  canon-regular  of  Saint  Augustine  in  the  Priory  of 
Bru-scough,  in  the  diocese  of  Coventry  and  Litchfield,  to  be  prior  of 
Selborne.  The  form  is  nearly  as  above  in  the  last  election.  The 
canons  are  again  enumerated  ;  W.  Wyndesor,  sub-prior,  P.  Berne, 
T.  London,  W.  Stratfeld,  J.  Bromesgrove,  who  had  formed  the 
chapter,  and  had  requested  and  obtained  license  to  elect,  but 
had  unanimously  conferred  their  power  on  the  bishop.  In  con- 
sequence of  this  proceeding,  the  bishop  taking  the  business  upon 
himself,  that  the  Priory  might  not  suffer  detriment  for  want  of  a 
governor,  appoints  the  aforesaid  T.  Fainvise  to  be  prior.  A 
citation  was  ordered  as  above  for  gainsayers  to  appear  October 
4th,  before  the  bishop  or  his  commissaries  at  South  Walthaw ; 
but  none  appearing,  the  commissaries  admitted  the  said  Thomas, 
ordered  him  to  be  installed,  and  sent  the  usual  letter  to  the 
convent  to  render  him  due  obedience. 


294  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

Thus  did  the  bishop  of  Winchester  a  second  time  appoint  a 
stranger  to  be  prior  of  Selborne,  instead  of  one  chosen  out  of 
the  chapter.  For  cliis  seeming  irregularity  the  visitor  had  no 
doubt  good  and  sufficient  reasons,  as  probably  may  appear  here- 
after. 


LETTER  XXI. 

WHATEVER  might  have  been  the  abilities  and  disposition  of  Prior 
Fairwise,  it  could  not  have  been  in  his  power  to  have  brought 
about  any  material  reformation  in  the  Priory  of  Selhorne,  because 
he  departed  this  life  in  the  month  of  August  1 472,  before  he  had 
presided  one  twelvemonth. 

As  soon  as  their  governor  was  buried  the  chapter  applied  to 
their  visitor  for  leave  to  choose  a  new  prior,  which  being  granted, 
after  deliberating  for  a  time,  they  proceeded  to  an  election  by  a 
scrutiny.  But  as  this  mode  of  voting  has  not  been  described  but 
by  the  mere  form  in  the  Appendix,  an  extract  from  the  bishop's 
register,  representing  the  manner  more  fully,  may  not  be  dis- 
agreeable to  several  readers. 

WAYNFLETE  REG.  torn.  II.  pars  lma,  fol.  15. 

"  Reverendo  &c.  ac  nostro  patroiio  graciosissimo  vestri  humiles, 
"et  devote  obedientie  filii,"  &c. 

To  the  right  reverend  Father  in  God,  and  our  most  gracious 
patron,  we,  your  obedient  and  devoted  sons,  William  Wyndesor, 
president  of  the  chapter  of  the  Priory  of  Selborne,  and  the  convent 
of  that  place,  do  make  known  to  your  lordship,  that  our  priorship 
being  lately  vacant  by  the  death  of  Thomas  Fairwise,  our  late 
prior,  who  died  August  llth,  1472,  having  committed  his  body 
to  decent  sepulture,  and  having  requested,  according  to  custom, 
leave  to  elect  another,  and  having  obtained  it  under  your  seal, 
we,  William  Wyndesor,  president  of  the  convent,  on  the  29th  of 
August,  in  our  chapter-house  assembled,  and  making  a  chapter, 
taking  to  us  in  this  business  Richard  ap  Jenkyn,  and  Gal/rid  Bryan, 
chaplains,  that  our  said  priory  might  not  by  means  of  this  vacancy 
incur  harm  or  loss,  unanimously  agreed  on  August  the  last  for  the 
day  of  the  election ;  on  which  day,  having  first  celebrated  mass, 
"  De  sancto  spiritu,"  at  the  high  altar,  and  having  called  a  chap- 
ter by  tolling  a  bell  about  ten  o'  the  clock,  we,  William  Wyndesor, 


OF  SELBOENE  295 

president,  Peter  Berne,  Thomas  London,  and  William  Siratfeld, 
canons,  who  alone  had  voices,  being  the  only  canons,  about  ten  o' 
the  clock,  first  sung  "  Veni  Creator,"  the  letters  and  license  being 
read  in  the  presence  of  many  persons  there.  Then  William 
Wyndesor,  in  his  own  name,  and  that  of  all  the  canons,  made 
solemn  proclamation,  enjoining  all  who  had  no  right  to  vote  to 
depart  out  of  the  chapter-house.  When  all  were  withdrawn 
except  Guyllery  de  Lacuna,  in  decretis  Baccalarius,  and  Robert 
Peverell,  notary-public,  and  also  the  two  chaplains,  the  first  was 
requested  to  stay,  that  he  might  direct  and  inform  us  in  the 
mode  of  election;  the  other,  that  he  might  record  and  attest 
the  transactions  ;  and  the  two  last  that  they  might  be  witnesses 
to  them. 

Then,  having  read  the  constitution  of  the  general  council 
"  Quia  propter,"  and  the  forms  of  elections  contained  in  it  being 
sufficiently  explained  to  them  by  De  Lacuna,  as  well  in  Latin  as 
the  vulgar  tongue,  and  having  deliberated  in  what  mode  to  proceed 
in  this  election,  they  resolved  on  that  of  scrutiny.  Three  of  the 
canons,  Wyndesor,  Berne,  and  London,  were  made  scrutators : 
Berne,  London,  and  Stratfeld,  chusing  Wyndesor ;  Wyndesor,  Lon- 
don, and  Stratfeld,  chusing  Berne;  Wyndesor,  Berne,  and  Strat- 
feld, chusing  London. 

They  were  empowered  to  take  each  other's  vote,  and  then 
that  of  Stratfeld  ;  "  et  ad  inferiorem  part  em  angularem  "  of  the 
chapter-house,  "juxta  ostium  ejusdem  declinentes,"  with  the 
other  persons  (except  Stratfeld,  who  staid  behind),  proceeded  to 
voting,  two  swearing,  and  taking  the  voice  of  the  third,  in  suc- 
cession, privately.  Wyndesor  voted  first :  "  Ego  credo  Petrum 
"Berne  meliorem  et  utiliorem  ad  regimen  istius  ecclesie,  et  in 
"  ipsum  consentio,  ac  eum  nomino/'  &c.  Berne  was  next  sworn, 
and  in  like  manner  nominated  Wyndesor;  London  nominated 
Berne :  Stratfeld  was  then  called  and  sworn,  and  nominated 
Berne. 

"Quibus  in  scriptis  redactis,"  by  the  notary-public,  they  re- 
turned to  the  upper  part  of  the  chapter-house,  where  by  Wyndesor 
"  sic  purecta l  fecerunt  in  communi,"  and  then  solemnly,  in  form 
written,  declared  the  election  of  Berne :  when  all,  "  antedicto 
"  nostro  electo  excepto,  approbantes  et  ratificantes,  cepimus  de- 
"  cantare  solemniter  '  Te  Deum  Laudamus,'  et  sic  canentes  dictum 
"electum  ad  majus  altare  ecclesie  deduximus,  ut  apud  nos  est 

1  \Peracta  f\ 


296  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

"moris."  Then  Wyndesor  "electionem  clero  et  populo  infra 
"  chorum  dicte  ecclesie  congregatis  publicavit,  et  personam  electi 
"publice  et  personaliter  ostendit".  We  then  returned  to  the 
chapter-house,  except  our  prior  ;  and  Wyndesor  was  appointed  by 
the  other  two  their  proctor,  to  desire  the  assent  of  the  elected, 
and  to  notify  what  had  been  done  to  the  bishop ;  and  to  desire 
him  to  confirm  the  election,  and  do  whatever  else  was  necessary. 
Then  their  proctor,  before  the  witnesses,  required  Berne's  assent 
in  the  chapter-house  :  "  qui  quidem  instanciis  et  precibus  multi- 
"plicatis  devictus,"  consented,  "licet  indignus  electus,"  in 
writing.  They  therefore  requested  the  bishop's  confirmation  of 
their  election  "sic  canonice  et  solemniter  celebrata,"  &c.  &c. 
Sealed  with  their  common  seal,  and  subscribed  and  attested  by 
the  notary.  Dat.  in  the  chapter-house  September  5th,  1472. 

In  consequence,  September  llth,  1472,  in  the  bishop's  chapel  at 
Esher,  and  before  the  bishop's  commissary,  appeared  W.  Wyndesor, 
and  exhibited  the  above  instrument,  and  a  mandate  from  the 
bishop  for  the  appearance  of  gainsayers  of  the  election  there  on 
that  day : — and  no  one  appearing,  the  absentees  were  declared 
contumacious,  and  the  election  confirmed ;  and  the  vicar  of 
Aulton  was  directed  to  induct  and  install  the  prior  in  the  usual 
manner. 

Thus  did  canon  Berne,  though  advanced  in  years,  reassume  his 
abdicated  priorship  for  the  second  time,  to  the  no  small  satisfac- 
tion, as  it  may  seem,  of  the  bishop  of  Winchester,  who  professed, 
as  will  be  shown  not  long  hence,  an  high  opinion  of  his  abilities 
and  integrity. 


LETTER  XXII. 

As  prior  Berne,  when  chosen  in  1454,  held  his  priorship  only  to 
1468,  and  then  made  a  voluntary  resignation,  wearied  and  dis- 
gusted, as  we  may  conclude,  by  the  disorder  that  prevailed  in 
his  convent ;  it  is  no  matter  of  wonder  that,  when  re-chosen  in 
1472,  he  should  not  long  maintain  his  station ;  as  old  age  was 
then  coming  fast  upon  him,  and  the  increasing  anarchy  and 
misrule  of  that  declining  institution  required  unusual  vigour  and 
resolution  to  stem  that  torrent  of  profligacy  which  was  hurrying 
it  on  to  it's  dissolution.  We  find,  accordingly,  that  in  1478  he 
resigned  his  dignity  again  into  the  hands  of  the  bishop. 


OF  SELBOKNE  297 

WAYNFLETE  REG.  fol.  55. 

Resignatio  Prioris  de  Seleborne. 

May  14,  1478.  Peter  Berne  resigned  the  priorship.  May  16 
the  bishop  admitted  his  resignation  "  in  manerio  suo  de  Waltham," 
and  declared  the  priorship  void ;  "  et  priorat.  solacio  destitu- 
"  turn  esse  "  ;  and  granted  his  letters  for  proceeding  to  a  new 
election :  when  all  the  religious,  assembled  in  the  chapter-house, 
did  transfer  their  power  under  their  seal  to  the  bishop,  by  the 
following  public  instrument. 

"In  Dei  nomine  Amen,"  &c.  A.D.  1478,  Maii  19.  In  the 
chapter-house  for  the  election  of  a  prior  for  that  day,  on  the  free 
resignation  of  Peter  Berne,  having  celebrated  in  the  first  place 
mass  at  the  high  altar  "De  spiritu  sancto,"  and  having  called  a 
chapter  by  tolling  a  bell,  ut  moris  est ;  in  the  presence  of  a  notary 
and  witnesses  appeared  personally  Peter  Berne,  Thomas  Ashford, 
Stephen  Clydegrove,  and  John  Ashton,  presbyters,  and  Henry  Can- 
wood,1  in  chapter  assembled ;  and  after  singing  the  hymn  "  Veni 
Creator  Spiritus,"  "  cum  versiculo  et  oratione  '  Deus  qui  corda ' ; 
"  declarataque  licentia  Fundatoris  et  Patroni ;  futurum  priorem 
"  eligendi  concessa,  et  constitutione  consilii  generalis  que  incipit 
" '  Quia  propter '  declaratis ;  viisque  per  quas  possent  ad  hanc 
"electionem  procedere,"  by  the  decretorum  doctorem,  whom  the 
canons  had  taken  to  direct  them — they  all  and  every  one 
"  dixerunt  et  affirmarunt  se  nolle  ad  aliquam  viam  procedere  "  : 
— but,  for  this  turn  only,  renounced  their  right,  and  unanimously 
transferred  their  power  to  the  bishop  the  ordinary  of  the  place, 
promising  to  receive  whom  he  should  provide ;  and  appointed  a 
proctor  to  present  the  instrument  to  the  bishop  under  their  seal ; 
and  required  their  notary  to  draw  it  up  in  due  form,  &c.  sub- 
scribed by  the  notary. 

After  the  visitor  had  fully  deliberated  on  the  matter,  he  pro- 
ceeded to  the  choice  of  a  prior,  and  elected,  by  the  following 
instrument,  John  Sharp,  alias  Glastenbury. 

Fol.  56.      PROVISIO  PRIORIS  per  EPM. 

Willtnus,  &c.  to  our  beloved  brother  in  CHRIST  John  Sharp,  alias 
Glastenbury,  Ecclesie  conventualis  de  Bruton,  of  the  order  of  St. 

1  Here  we  see  that  all  the  canons  were  changed  in  six  years  ;  and  that  there  was 
quite  a  new  chapter,  Berne  excepted,  between  1472  and  1478 ;  for,  instead  of 
Wyndesor,  London,  and  Stratfeld,  we  find  Ashford,  Clydegrove,  Ashton,  and  Can- 
wood,  all  new  men,  who  were  soon  gone  in  their  turn  o'ff  the  stage,  and  are  heard 
of  no  more.  For,  in  six  years  after,  there  seem  to  have  been  no  canons  at  all. 


298  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

Austin,  in  the  diocese  of  Bath  and  Wells,  canon-regular — salutem, 
&c.  "De  tue  circumspectionis  industria  plurimum  confidentes, 
"  et  te  virum  providum  et  discretum,  literarum  scientia,  et  mori- 
"bus  merito  coramendandum/'  &c. — do  appoint  you  prior — under 
our  seal.  "  Dat.  in  manerio  nostro  de  Suthwaltham,  May  20, 
"  1478,  et  nostre  Consec.  31." 

Thus  did  the  bishop,  three  times  out  of  the  four  that  he  was 
at  liberty  to  nominate,  appoint  a  prior  from  a  distance,  a  stranger 
to  the  place,  to  govern  the  convent  of  Selborne,  hoping  by  this 
method  to  have  broken  the  cabal,  and  to  have  interrupted  that 
habit  of  mismanagement  that  had  pervaded  the  society :  but  he 
acknowledges,  in  an  evidence  lying  before  us,  that  he  never  did 
succeed  to  his  wishes  with  respect  to  those  late  governors, — 
"quos  tamen  male  se  habuisse,  et  inutiliter  administrare,  et 
"  administrasse  usque  ad  presentia  tempora  post  debitam  in- 
"  vestigationem,  &c.  invenit".  The  only  time  that  he  appointed 
from  among  the  canons,  he  made  choice  of  Peter  Berne,  for  whom 
he  had  conceived  the  greatest  esteem  and  regard. 

When  prior  Berne  first  relinquished  his  priorship,  he  returned 
again  to  his  former  condition  of  canon,  in  which  he  continued 
for  some  years :  but  when  he  was  re-chosen,  and  had  abdicated 
a  second  time,  we  find  him  in  a  forlorn  state,  and  in  danger  of 
being  reduced  to  beggary,  had  not  the  bishop  of  Winchester 
interposed  in  his  favour,  and  with  great  humanity  insisted  on  a 
provision  for  him  for  life.  The  reason  for  this  difference  seems 
to  have  been,  that,  in  the  first  case,  though  in  years,  he  might 
have  been  hale  and  capable  of  taking  his  share  in  the  duty  of 
the  convent ;  in  the  second,  he  was  broken  with  age,  and  no 
longer  equal  to  the  functions  of  a  canon. 

Impressed  with  this  idea  the  bishop  very  benevolently  in- 
terceded in  his  favour,  and  laid  his  injunctions  on  the  new-elected 
prior  in  the  following  manner. 

Fol.  56.  "In  Dei  nomine  Amen.  Nos  Willmus,  &c.  con- 
"  siderantes  Petrum  Berne,"  late  prior,  "  in  administratione 
"  spiritualium  et  temporalium  prioratus  laudabiliter  vixisse  et 
"  rexisse ;  ipsumque  senio  et  corporis  debilitate  confractum ;  ne 
"in  opprobrium  religionis  mendicari  cogatur ; — eidem  annuam 
"  pensionem  a  Domino  Johanne  Sharp,  alias  Glastonbury,  priore 
"  moderno,"  and  his  successors,  and,  from  the  Priory  or  church, 
to  be  payed  every  year  during  his  life,  "  de  voluntate  et  ex  con- 
"sensu  expressis"  of  the  said  John  Sharp,  "sub  ea  que  sequitur 
"  forma  verborum — assignamus  "  ; 


OF  SELBOENE  299 

1st.  That  the  said  prior  and  his  successors,  for  the  time  being, 
honeste  exhibebunt  of  the  fruits  and  profits  of  the  priorship,  "eidem 
"esculenta  et  poculenta,"  while  he  remained  in  the  Priory  "sub 
"consimili  portione  eorundem  prout  convenienter  priori/'  for  the 
time  being,  ministrari  contigcrit ;  and  in  like  manner  uni  famulo, 
whom  he  should  chuse  to  wait  on  him,  as  to  the  servientibus  of 
the  prior. 

Item.  "  Invenient  seu  exhibebunt  eidem  imam  honestam 
"  cameram "  in  the  Priory,  "  cum  focalibus  necessariis  seu  op- 
"  portunis  ad  eundem." 

Item.  "We  will,  ordain,  &c.  to  the  said  P.  Berne,  an  annual 
"pension  of  ten  marks,  from  the  revenue  of  the  Priory,  to  be 
"  paid  by  the  hands  of  the  prior  quarterly." 

The  bishop  decrees  farther,  that  John  Sharp,  and  his  successors, 
shall  take  an  oath  to  observe  this  injunction,  and  that  before  their 
installation. 

"  Lecta  et  facta  sunt  haec  in  quodam  alto  oratorio,"  belonging 
to  the  bishop  at  Suthwaltham,  May  25,  14-78,  in  the  presence  of 
John  Sharp,  who  gave  his  assent,  and  then  took  the  oath  before 
witnesses,  with  the  other  oaths  before  the  chancellor,  who  decreed 
he  should  be  inducted  and  installed ;  as  was  done  that  same  day. 

How  John  Sharp,  alias  Glastonbury,  acquitted  himself  in  his 
priorship,  and  in  what  manner  he  made  a  vacancy,  whether  by 
resignation,  or  death,  or  whether  he  was  removed  by  the  visitor, 
does  not  appear ;  we  only  find  that  some  time  in  the  year  1484 
there  was  no  prior,  and  that  the  bishop  nominated  canon  Ashford 
to  fill  the  vacancy. 

LETTER  XXIII. 

THIS  Thomas  Ashford  was  most  undoubtedly  the  last  prior  of 
Selborne ;  and  therefore  here  will  be  the  proper  place  to  say 
something  concerning  a  list  of  the  priors,  and  to  endeavour  to 
improve  that  already  given  by  others. 

At  the  end  of  bishop  Tanners  Notitia  Monastica,  the  folio 
edition,  among  Brown  Willis's  Principals  of  Religious  Houses 
occur  the  names  of  eleven  of  the  priors  of  Selborne,  with  dates. 
But  this  list  is  imperfect,  and  particularly  at  the  beginning  ;  for 
though  the  Priory  was  founded  in  1232,  yet  it  commences  with 
Nick,  de  Cantia,  elected  in  1 262  ;  so  that  for  the  first  thirty  years 
no  prior  is  mentioned ;  yet  there  must  have  been  one  or  more. 
We  were  in  hopes  that  the  register  of  Peter  de  Rupibus  would 


300  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

have  rectified  this  omission ;  but,  when  it  was  examined,  no 
information  of  the  sort  was  to  be  found.  From  the  year  1410 
the  list  is  much  corrected  and  improved  ;  and  the  reader  may 
depend  on  it's  being  thence  forward  very  exact. 

A  LIST  of  the  PRIORS  of  SELBORNE  PRIORY,  from  Brown  Willis's 
Principals  of  Religious  Houses,  with  additions  within  [  ]  by 
the  author. 

[John was  prior,  sine  datj]  l 

Nick,  de  Cantia  el.   - 

[Peter was  prior  in    - 

[Richard was  prior  in 

Will.  Basing  was  prior  in  - 
Walter  de  Insula  el.  in 
[Some  difficulties,  and  a  devolution ;  but  the  election 

confirmed  by  bishop  Stratford.] 

John  de  Winton  1339. 

Thomas  Weston  1377. 

John  Winchester  [Wynchestre]    -  1410. 

[Elected  by  bishop  Beaufort  "  per  viam   vel   formam 

"  simplicis  compromissi ".] 

[John  Stype,  alias  Stepe,  in  1411.] 

Peter  Bene  [alias  Berne  or  Bernes,  appointed  keeper,  and, 
by  lapse  to  bishop  Wayneflete,  prior]  in  -  1454. 

[He  resigns  in  1468.] 

John  Morton  [prior  of  Reygate]  in       -  1 468. 

[The  canons  by  compromise  transfer  the  power  of  elec- 
tion to  the  bishop.] 
Will.  Winsor  [  Wyndesor,  prior  for  a  few  days]    -  1 47 1 . 

[but  removed  on  account  of  an  irregular  election.] 
Thomas  Farwill  [Fairwise,  vicar  of  Somborne]      -  1471. 

[by  compromise  again  elected  by  the  bishop.] 
[Peter  Berne,  re-elected  by  scrutiny  in        -  1472,] 

[resigns  again  in  1478.] 

John  Sharper  [Sharp]  alias  Glastonbury        -  1478. 

[Canon-reg.  of  Bruton,  elected  by  the  bishop  by  compro- 
mise.] 
[Thomas  Ashford,  canon  of  Selborne,  last  prior  elected  by 

the  bishop  of  Winchester,  some  time  in  the  year     -          1484, 
and  deposed  at  the  dissolution.] 

1  See,  in  Letter  XI.  of  these  Antiquities,  the  reason  why  prior  John ,  who  had 

transactions  with  the  Knights  Templars,  is  placed  in  the  list  before  the  year  1262. 


OF  SELBORNE  301 


LETTER  XXIV. 

BISHOP  Wayjieflete's  efforts  to  continue  the  Priory  still  proved 
unsuccessful ;  and  the  convent,  without  any  canons,  and  for  some 
time  without  a  prior,  was  tending  swiftly  to  it's  dissolution. 

When  Sharp's,  alias  Glastonbury's,  priorship  ended  does  not 
appear.  The  bishop  says  that  he  had  been  obliged  to  remove 
some  priors  for  mal-administration :  but  it  is  not  well  explained 
how  that  could  be  the  case  with  any,  unless  with  Sharp  ;  because 
all  the  others,  chosen  during  his  episcopate,  died  in  their  office, 
viz.  Morton  and  Fairwise  ;  Berne  only  excepted,  who  relinquished 
twice  voluntarily,  and  was  moreover  approved  of  by  Wayneflete 
as  a  person  of  integrity.  But  the  way  to  shew  what  ineffectual 
pains  the  bishop  took,  and  what  difficulties  he  met  with,  will  be 
to  quote  the  words  of  the  libel  of  his  proctor  Radulphus  Langley, 
who  appeared  for  the  bishop  in  the  process  of  the  impropriation 
of  the  Priory  of  Selborne.  The  extract  is  taken  from  an  attested 
copy. 

"Item — that  the  said  bishop — dicto  prioratui  et  personis  ejus- 
"dem  pie  compatiens,  sollicitudines  pastorales,  labores  et  dili- 
"  gentias  gravissimas  quam  plurimas,  tarn  per  se  quam  per  suos, 
"  pro  reformatione  premissorum  impendebat :  et  aliquando  illius 
"loci  prioribus,  propter  malam  et  inutilem  administrationem, 
"et  dispensationem  bonorum  predicti  prioratus,  suis  demeritis 
"  exigentibus,  amotis ;  alios  priores  in  quorum  circumspectione 
"  et  diligentia  confidebat,  prefecit :  quos  tamen  male  se  habuisse 
"  ac  inutiliter  administrare,  et  administrasse,  usque  ad  presentia 
"  tempora  post  debitam  investigationem,  &c.  invenit."  So  that 
he  despaired  with  all  his  care — "statum  ejusdem  reparare  vel 
"  restaurare  :  et  considerata  temporis  malicia,  et  preteritis  timendo 
"et  conjecturando  futura,  de  aliqua  bona  et  sancta  religione 
"  ejusdem  ordinis,  &c.  juxta  piam  intentionem  prime vi  fundatoris 
"  ibidem  habend.  desperatur." 

William  Wainfleet,  bishop  of  Winchester,  founded  his  college 
of  Saint  Mary  Magdalene,  in  the  university  of  Oxford,  in  or  about 
the  year  1459 ;  but  the  revenues  proving  insufficient  for  so  large 
and  noble  an  establishment,  the  college  supplicated  the  founder 
to  augment  it's  income  by  putting  it  in  possession  of  the  estates 
belonging  to  the  Priory  of  Selborne,  now  become  a  deserted 
convent,  without  canons  or  prior.  The  president  and  fellows 
state  the  circumstances  of  their  numerous  institution  and  scanty 


302  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

provision,  and  the  ruinous  and  perverted  condition  of  the  Priory. 
The  bishop  appoints  commissaries  to  inquire  into  the  state  of  the 
said  monastery  ;  and,  if  found  expedient,  to  confirm  the  appropria- 
tion of  it  to  the  college,  which  soon  after  appoints  attornies  to 
take  possession,  September  24,  1484.  But  the  way  to  give  the 
reader  a  thorough  insight  respecting  this  transaction,  will  be  to 
transcribe  a  farther  proportion  of  the  process  of  the  impropriation 
from  the  beginning,  which  will  lay  open  the  manner  of  proceed- 
ing, and  shew  the  consent  of  the  parties. 

IMPROPRIATIO  SELBORNE,   1485. 

"  Universis  sancte  matris  ecclesie  filiis,  &c.  Ricardus  Dei 
"gratia  prior  ecclesie  conventualis  de  Novo  Loco,  &C.1  ad  uni- 
"versitatem  vestre  notitie  deducimus,  &c.  quod  coram  nobis 
"  commissario  predicto  in  ecclesia  parochiali  S".  Georgii  de  Essher 
"diet.  Winton.  dioc.  3°.  die  Augusti,  A.  D.  1485.  Indictione 
"tertia  poiitificat.  Innocentii  8Ti.  aim.  lmo.  judicialiter  comparuit 
"  venerabilis  vir  Jacobus  Preston,  S.  T.  P.  infrascriptus,  et  exhibuit 
"  literas  commissionis — quas  quidem  per  magistrum  Thomam 
"  Somercotes  notarium  publicum,  &c.  legi  fecimus,  teiiorem 
"sequentem  in  se  continentes."  The  same  as  N°.  103,  but  dated 
— "  In  manerio  nostro  de  Essher,  Augusti  lmo.  A.D.  1485,  et  nostre 
"consec.  anno  39."  [N°.  103  is  repeated  in  a  book  containing 
the  like  process  in  the  preceding  year  by  the  same  commissary, 
in  the  parish  church  of  St.  Andrew  the  apostle,  at  Farnham,  Sept. 
6th,  anno  1484.]  "Post  quarum  literarum  lecturam — dictus 
"magister  Jacobus  Preston,  quasdam  procuratorias  literas  mag. 
"  Richardi  Mayewe  presidents,  ut  asseruit,  collegii  beate  Marie 
"Magdalene,  &c.  sigillo  rotundo  communi,  &c.  in  cera  rubea 
"impresso  sigillatas  realiter  exhibuit,  £c.  et  pro  eisdem  dnis 
"suis,  &c.  fecit  se  partem,  ac  nobis  supplicavit  ut  juxta  formam 
"in  eisdem  traditam  procedere  dignaremur,  &c."  After  these 
proclamations  no  contradictor  or  objector  appearing — "ad  in- 
"stantem  petitionem  ipsius  mag.  Jac.  Preston,  procuratoris,  &c. 

1  Ecclesia  Conventualis  de  Novo  Loco  was  the  monastery  afterwards  called  the 
New  Minster,  or  Abbey  of  Hyde,  in  the  city  of  Winchester.  Should  any  intelligent 
reader  wonder  to  see  that  the  prior  of  Hyde  Abbey  was  commissary  to  the  bishop 
of  Wintdn,  and  should  conclude  that  there  was  a  mistake  in  titles,  and  that  the 
abbot  must  have  been  here  meant ;  he  will  be  pleased  to  recollect  that  this  person 
was  the  second  in  rank;  for,  "next  under  the  abbot,  in  every  abbey,  was  the 
prior".  Pref.  to  Notit.  Monast.  p.  xxix.  Besides,  abbots  were  great  personages, 
and  too  high  in  station  to  submit  to  any  office  under  the  bishop. 


OF  SELBOKNE  303 

"procedendum  fore  decrevimus  vocatis  jure  vocandis ;  nee  non 
"  mag.  Tho.  Somercotes,  &c.  in  actorum  nostrorum  scribam  nomina- 
"  vimus.  Consequenter  et  ibidem  tune  comparuit  magister  Michael 
"  dyff>  &c>  et  exhibuit  in  ea  parte  procuratorium  suum,"  for  the 
prior  and  convent  of  the  cathedral  of  Winton,  "  et  fecit  se  parte  m 
"pro  eisdem. — Deinde  comparuit  coram  nobis,  &c.  honestus  vir 
"  Willmus  Cowper,"  proctor  for  the  bishop  as  patron  of  the  Priory 
of  Selborne,  and  exhibited  his  "  procuratorium,  &c."  After  these 
were  read  in  the  presence  of  Clyff  and  Cowper,  "  Preston,  viva 
voce,"  petitioned  the  commissary  to  annex  and  appropriate  the 
Priory  of  Selborne  to  the  college — "  propter  quod  fructus,  redditus, 
"et  proventus  ejusdem  coll.  adeo  tenues  sunt,  et  exiles,  quod  ad 
" sustentationem  ejus,  &c.  non  sufficiunt." — The  commissary,  "ad 
"libellandum  et  articulandum  in  scriptis" — adjourned  the  court 
to  the  5th  of  August,  then  to  be  held  again  in  the  parish  church 
of  Essher. 

W.  Cowper  being  then  absent,  Radulphus  Langley  appeared  for 
the  bishop,  and  was  admitted  his  proctor.  Preston  produced  his 
libel  or  article  in  scriptis  for  the  union,  &c.  "et  admitti  petiit 
"  eundem  cum  effectu  ;  cujus  libelli  tenor  sequitur. — In  Dei 
"nomine,  Amen.  Coram  nobis  venerabili  in  Christo  patre 
"  Rickardo,  priore,  &c.  de  Novo  Loco,  &c.  commissario,  &c." 
Part  of  the  college  of  Magd.  dicit,  allegat,  and  in  his  "scriptis 
proponit,  &c." 

"  Imprimis  " — that  said  college  consists  of  a  president  and  eighty 
scholars,  besides  sixteen  choristers,  thirteen  "servientes  inibi 
"altissimo  famulantibus,  et  in  scientiis  plerisque  liberalibus,  pre- 
"  sertim  in  sacra  theologia  studentibus,  nedum  ad  ipsorum  presi- 
"  dentis  et  scholarium  pro  presenti  et  imposterum,  annuente  deo, 
"  incorporandum  in  eodem  relevamen ;  verum  etiam  ad  omnium 
"et  singulorum  tarn  scholarium  quam  religiosorum  cujuscunque 
"  ordinis  undequaque  illuc  confluere  pro  salubri  doctrina  volentium 
"  utilitatem  multiplicem  ad  incrementa  virtutis  fideique  catholice 
"  stabilimentum.  Ita  videlicet  quod  omnes  et  singuli  absque 
"personarum  seu  nationum  delectu  illuc  accedere  volentes, 
"lecturas  publicas  et  doctrinas  tarn  in  grammatica  in  loco  ad 
"collegium  contiguo.  ac  philosophiis  morali  et  naturali,  quam 
"in  sacra  theologia  in  eodem  collegio  perpetuis  cemporibus 
"  continuandas  libere  atque  gratis  audire  valeant  et  possint  ad 
"laudem  gloriam  et  honorem  Dei,  &c.  extitit  fundatum  et 
"  stabilitum." 

For  the  first  item  in  this  process  see  the   beginning  of  this 


304  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

letter.  Then  follows  item  the  second — that  the  revenues  of 
the  college  "non  sufficiunt  his  diebus ".  Item  —  that  the 
premisses  are  true,  &c.  "  et  super  eisdem  laborarunt,  et  laborunt 
"  publica  vox  et  fama.  Unde  facta  fide  petit  pars  eorundem  that 
"  the  Priory  be  annexed  to  the  college  :  ita  quod  dicto  prioratu 
"vacante  liceat  iis  ex  tune  to  take  possession,  &c."  This  libel, 
with  the  express  consent  of  the  other  proctors,  we,  the  commissary, 
admitted,  and  appointed  the  sixth  of  August  for  proctor  Preston  to 
prove  the  premisses. 

Preston  produced  witnesses,  W.  Gyfford,  S.  T.  P.  John  Nele,  A. 
M.  John  Chapman,  chaplain,  and  Robert  Baron,  literatus,  who 
were  admitted  and  sworn,  when  the  court  was  prorogued  to  the 
6th  of  August;  and  the  witnesses,  on  the  same  5th  of  August, 
were  examined  by  the  commissary,  "in  capella  infra  manerium 
"  de  Essher  situata,  secrete  et  singillatim ".  Then  follows  the 
"literae  procuratoriae " :  first  that  of  the  college,  appointing 
Preston  and  Langport  their  proctors,  dated  August  30th,  1484; 
then  that  of  the  prior  and  convent  of  the  cathedral  of  Winton, 
appointing  David  Husband  and  Michael  Cleve,  dated  September  4th, 
1484:  then  that  of  the  bishop,  appointing  W.  Gyfford,  Radulphus 
Langley,  and  Will.  Cowper,  dated  September  3rd,  1484.  Consec. 
38°. — "Quo  die  adveniente  in  dicta  ecclesia  parochiali,"  appeared 
"  coram  nobis  "  James  Preston  to  prove  the  contents  of  his  libel, 
and  exhibited  some  letters  testimonial  with  the  seal  of  the  bishop, 
and  these  were  admitted ;  and  consequenter  Preston  produced 
two  witnesses,  viz.  Dominum  Thomam  Ashforde  nuper  priorem  dicti 
prioratus,  et  Willm.  Habbys,  literatum,  who  were  admitted  and 
sworn,  and  examined  as  the  others,  by  the  commissary ;  "  tune 
&  ibidem  assistente  scriba  secrete  &  singillatim";  and  their 
depositions  were  read  and  made  public,  as  follows : 

Mr.  W.  Gyfford,  S.  T.  P.  aged  57,  of  the  state  of  Magd.  Coll. 
&c.  as  before : 

Mr.  John  Nele,  aged  57,  proves  the  articles  also  : 

Robert  Baron,  aged  56  : 

Johannes  Chapman,  aged  35,  also  affirmed  all  the  five  articles. 

Dompnus  Thomas  Ashforde,  aged  72  years— "dicit  2dum  3um  4nm 
"articulos  in  eodem  libello  contentos,  concernentes  statum  dicti 
"  prioratus  de  Selebourne,  fuisse  et  esse  veros  ". 

W.  Rabbys,  aetat.  40  ann.  agrees  with  Gyfford,  &c. 

Then  follows  the  letter  from  the  bishop,  "in  subsidium  pro- 
"bationis,"  above-mentioned. — "  Willmus,  &c.  salutem,  &c.  noverint 


OF  SELBOENE  305 

"universitas  vestra,  quod  licet  nos  prioratui  de  Selebourne,  &c.  pie 
"  compacientes  sollicitudines  pastorales,  labores,  diligentias  quam 
"plurimas  per  nos  &  commissarios  nostros  pro  reformatione 
"status  ejus  impenderimus,  justicia  id  poscente ;  nihilominus 
"tamen,"  &c.  as  in  the  article — to  " desperatur,"  dated  "in 
"manerio  nostro  de  Essher,  Aug.  3d,  14-85,  &  consec.  3.9".  Then, 
on  the  6th  of  August,  Preston,  in  the  presence  of  the  other 
proctors,  required  that  they  should  be  compelled  to  answer; 
when  they  all  allowed  the  articles  "  fuisse  &  esse  vera  "  ;  and  the 
commissary  at  the  request  of  Preston,  concluded  the  business,  and 
appointed  Monday,  August  8th,  for  giving  his  decree  in  the  same 
church  of  Essher ;  and  it  was  that  day  read,  and  contains  a  re- 
capitulation, with  the  sentence  of  union,  &c.  witnessed  and 
attested. 

As  soon  as  the  president  and  fellows  of  Magdalen  college  had 
obtained  the  decision  of  the  commissary  in  their  favour,  they 
proceeded  to  supplicate  the  pope,  and  to  entreat  his  holiness  that 
he  would  give  his  sanction  to  the  sentence  of  union.  Some  diffi- 
culties were  started  at  Rome  ;  but  they  were  surmounted  by  the 
college  agent,  as  appears  by  his  letters  from  that  city.  At  length 
pope  Innocent  VIII.  by  a  bull1  bearing  date  the  8th  day  of  June, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  I486,  and  in  the  second  year  of  his  ponti- 
ficate, confirmed  what  had  been  done,  and  suppressed  the  convent. 

Thus  fell  the  considerable  and  well-endowed  Priory  of  Selborne 
after  it  had  subsisted  about  two  hundred  and  fifty-four  years : 
about  seventy- four  years  after  the  suppression  of  Priories  alien  by 
Henry  V.  and  about  fifty  years  before  the  general  dissolution  of 
monasteries  by  Henry  VIII.  The  founder,  it  is  probable,  had 
fondly  imagined  that  the  sacredness  of  the  institution,  and  the 
pious  motives  on  which  it  was  established,  might  have  preserved 
it  inviolate  to  the  end  of  time — yet  it  fell, 

"  To  teach  us  that  God  attributes  to  place 

"  No  sanctity,  if  none  be  thither  brought 

"  By  men,  who  there  frequent,  or  therein  dwell." 

Milton's  Paradise  Lost.12 

1  There  is  nothing  remarkable  in  this  bull  oipope  Innocent  except  the  statement 
of  the  annual  revenue  of  the  Priory  of  Selborne,  which  is  therein  estimated  at  160 
flor.  auri  ;  whereas  bishop  Godwin  sets  it  at  3377. 155.  6±d.  Now  &floren,  so  named, 
says  Camden,  because  made  by  Florentines,  was  a  gold  coin  of  king  Edward  III. 
in  value  6s.  whereof  160  is  not  one  seventh  part  of  337^  151.  6±d. 

a  [XL,  836-39.] 

20 


306  THE  ANTIQUITIES 


LETTER  XXV. 

WAINFLEET  did  not  long  enjoy  the  satisfaction  arising  from  this 
new  acquisition ;  but  departed  this  life  in  a  few  months  after  he 
had  effected  the  union  of  the  Priory  with  his  late  founded  college  ; 
and  was  succeeded  in  the  see  of  Winchester  by  Peter  Courtney,  some 
time  towards  the  end  of  the  year  I486. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  following  year  the  new  bishop  released 
the  president  and  fellows  of  Magdalen  College  from  all  actions 
respecting  the  Priory  of  Selborne ;  and  the  prior  and  convent  of 
Saint  Swithun,  as  the  chapter  of  Winchester  cathedral,  confirmed 
the  release.1 

N.  293.  "  Relaxatio  Petri  epi  Winton  Ricardo  Mayew,  President! 
"  omnium  actionum  occasione  indempnitatis  sibi  debite  pro  unione 
"Prioratus  de  Selborne  dicto  collegio.  Jan.  2.  1487.  et  translat. 
"anno  1°." 

N.  374.  "Relaxatio  prioris  et  conventus  Su.  Swithini  Winton 
"confirmans  relaxationem  Petri  ep.  Winton."  1487.  Jan.  13. 

Ashforde,  the  deposed  prior,  who  had  appeared  as  an  evidence 
for  the  impropriation  of  the  Priory  at  the  age  of  seventy-two 
years,  that  he  might  not  be  destitute  of  a  maintenance,  was  pen- 
sioned by  the  college  to  the  day  of  his  death  ;  and  was  living  on 
till  1490,  as  appears  by  his  acquittances. 

REG.  A.  ff.  46. 

"  Omnibus  Christi  fidelibus  ad  quos  presens  scriptum  pervenerit, 
"  Richardus  May  en),  presidens,  &c.  et  scolares,  salutem  in  Domino." 

"Noveritis  nos  prefatos  presidentem  et  scolares  dedisse,  con- 
"cessisse,  et  hoc  presenti  scripto  confirmasse  Thome  Ashforde, 
"  capellano,  quendam  annualem  redditum  sex  librarum  tresdecim 
"  solidorum  et  quatuor  denariorum  bone  et  legalis  monete  Anglic 
" — ad  terminum  vite  prefati  Thome  " — to  be  paid  from  the  posses- 
sions of  the  college  in  Basingstoke. — "  In  cujus  rei  testimonium 
"  sigillum  nostrum  commune  presentibus  apponimus.  Dat.  Oxon. 
"in  coll.  nostro  supra  dicto  primo  die  mensis  Junii  anno  regis  > 
"  Ricardi  tertii  secundo,"  viz.  1484.  The  college  in  their  grant 
to  Ashforde,  style  him  only  capellanus ;  but  the  annuitant  very 
naturally,  and  with  a  becoming  dignity,  asserts  his  late  title  in 
his  acquittances,  and  identifies  himself  by  the  addition  of  nuper 
priorem,  or  late  prior. 

1  The  bishops  of  Winchester  were  patrons  of  the  Priory. 


OF  SELBOKNE  307 

As,  according  to  the  persuasion  of  the  times,  the  depriving  the 
founder  and  benefactors  of  the  Priory  of  their  masses  and  services 
would  have  been  deemed  the  most  impious  of  frauds,  bishop  Wain- 
fieet,  having  by  statute  ordained  four  obits  for  himself  to  be  cele- 
brated in  the  chapel  of  Magdalen  College,  enjoined  in  one  of  them 
a  special  collect  for  the  anniversary  of  Peter  de  Rupibus,  with  a 
particular  prayer — "  Deus  Indulgentiarum  ". 

The  college  also  sent  Nicholas  Langrish,  who  had  been  a  chantry 
priest  at  Selborne,  to  celebrate  mass  for  the  souls  of  all  that  had 
been  benefactors  to  the  said  Priory  and  college,  and  for  all  the 
faithful  who  had  departed  this  life. 

N.  356.  Thomas  Knowles,  presidens,  &c. — "damus  et  concedi- 
"  mus  Nicholao  Langrish  quandum  capellaniam,  vel  salarium,  sive 
"  alio  quocunque  nomine  censeatur,  in  prioratu  quondam  de  Selbome 
"  pro  termino  40  annorum,  si  tarn  diu  vixerit.  Ubi  dictus  mag1. 
"  Nicholaus  celebrabit  pro  animabus  omnium  benefactorum  dicti 
"prioratus  et  coll.  nostri,  et  omnium  fidelium  defunctorum. 
"Insuper  nos,  &c.  concedimus  eidem  ibidem  celebranti  in  sus- 
"  tentationem  suam  quandam  annualem  pensionem  sive  annuitatem 
"  octo  librarum  &c. — in  dicta  capella  dicti  prioratus — concedimus 
"  duas  cameras  contiguas  ex  parte  boreali  dicte  capelle,  cum  una 
"  coquina,  et  cum  uno  stabulo  conveniente  pro  tribus  equis,  cum 
"pomerio  eidem  adjacente  voc.  le  Orcheyard — Preterea  26s.  8d. 
"  per  aim.  ad  inveniendum  unum  clericum  ad  serviendum  sibi  ad 
"altare,  et  aliis  negotiis  necessariis  ejus." — His  wood  to  be  granted 
him  by  the  president  on  the  progress. — He  was  not  to  absent 
himself  beyond  a  certain  time ;  and  was  to  superintend  the  coppices, 

wood,  and  hedges. "  Dat.  5*°.  die  Julii.  an0.  Hen.  VIII*.  36°." 

[viz.  1546.] 

Here  we  see  the  Priory  in  a  new  light,  reduced  as  it  were  to 
the  state  of  a  chantry,  without  prior  and  without  canons,  and  at- 
tended only  by  a  priest,  who  was  also  a  sort  of  bailiff  or  woodman, 
his  assistant  c!  erk,  and  his  female  cook.1  Owen  Oglethorpe,  president, 
and  Magd.  Coll.  in  the  fourth  year  of  Edward  VI.  viz.  1551 ,  granted 
an  annuity  of  ten  pounds  a  year  for  life  to  Nich.  Langrish,  who, 
from  the  preamble,  appears  then  to  have  been  fellow  of  that 
society  :  but,  being  now  superannuated  for  business,  this  pension 
is  granted  him  for  thirty  years,  if  he  should  live  so  long.  It  is 
said  of  him — "  cum  jam  sit  provectioris  etatis  quam  ut,"  &c. 

Laurence  Stubb,  president  of  Magd.  Coll.  leased  out  the  Priory 

l\Coquina  means  a  kitchen,  not  a  female  cook.] 


308  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

lands  to  John  Sharp,  husbandman,  for  the  term  of  twenty  years, 
as  early  as  the  seventeenth  year  of  Henry  VIII. — viz.  1526  :  and 
it  appears  that  Henry  Newlyn  had  been  in  possession  of  a  lease 
before,  probably  towards  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Henry  VII. 
Sharp's  rent  was  vi!i.  per  ann. — Regist.  B.  p.  43. 

By  an  abstract  from  a  lease  lying  before  me,  it  appears  that 
Sharp  found  a  house,  two  barns,  a  stable,  and  a  dtif-house  [dove- 
house]  built,  and  standing  on  the  south  side  of  the  old  Priory,  and 
late  in  the  occupation  of  Newlyn.  In  this  abstract  also  are  to  be 
seen  the  names  of  all  the  fields,  many  of  which  continue  the  same 
to  this  day.1  Of  some  of  them  I  shall  take  notice,  where  any 
thing  singular  occurs. 

And  here  first  we  meet  with  Paradyss  [Paradise]  mede.  Every 
convent  had  its  Paradise  ;  which  probably  was  an  enclosed  orchard, 
pleasantly  laid  out,  and  planted  with  fruit-trees.  Tylehouse  grove, 
so  distinguished  from  having  a  tiled  house  near  it.2  Butt-wood  close  ; 
here  the  servants  of  the  Priory  and  the  village-swains  exercised 
themselves  with  their  long  bows,  and  shot  at  a  mark  against  a 
butt,  or  bank.3  Cundyth  [conduit]  wood :  the  engrosser  of  the 
lease  not  understanding  this  name  has  made  a  strange  barbarous 
word  of  it.  Conduit-wood  was  and  is  a  steep,  rough  cow-pasture, 
lying  above  the  Priory,  at  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  the  south- 
west. In  the  side  of  this  field  there  is  a  spring  of  water  that 
never  fails  ;  at  the  head  of  which  a  cistern  was  built  which  com- 
municated with  leaden  pipes  that  conveyed  water  to  the  monastery. 
When  this  reservoir  was  first  constructed  does  not  appear,  we  only 
know  that  it  underwent  a  repair  in  the  episcopate  of  bishop  Wain- 
fleet,  about  the  year  1462.4  Whether  these  pipes  only  conveyed 
the  water  to  the  Priory  for  common  and  culinary  purposes,  or 

1  It  may  not  be  amiss  to  mention  here  that  various  names  of  tithings,  farms, 
fields,  woods,  &c.  which  appear  in  the  ancient  deeds,  and  evidences  of  several 
centuries  standing,  are  still  preserved  in  common  use  with  little  or  no  variation  : — 
as  Norton,  Southington,  Durton,  Achangre,  Blackmore,  Bradshot,  Rood,  Plestor, 
&c.  &c.     At  the  same  time  it  should  be  acknowledged  that  other  places  have  entirely 
lost  their  original  titles,  as  le  Buri  and  Trucstede  in  this  village  ;  and  la  Liega,  or  la. 
Lyge,  which  was  the  name  of  the  original  site  of  the  Priory,  &c. 

2  Men  at  first  heaped  sods,  or  fern,  or  heath,  on  their  roofs  to  keep  off  the 
inclemencies  of  the  weather :  and  then  by  degrees  laid  straw  or  haum.     The  first 
refinements  on  roofing  were  shingles,  which  are  very  ancient.    Tiles  are  a  very  late 
and  imperfect  covering,  and  were  not  much  in  use  till  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth 
century.     The  first  tiled  house  at  Nottingham  was  in  1503. 

3  There  is  also  a  Butt-close  just  at  the  back  of  the  village. 

4N.  381.  "  Clausure  terre  abbatie  ecclesie  parochial!  de  Seleburne,  iw.  iiiuf. 
"  Reparacionibus  domorum  predicti  prioratus  iiii.  lib,  xu,  Ague  conduct,  ibidem, 
"" 


OF  SELBOKNE  309 

contributed  to  any  matters  of  ornament  and  elegance,  we  shall 
not  pretend  to  say  ;  nor  when  artists  and  mechanics  first  understood 
any  thing  of  hydraulics,  and  that  water  confined  in  tubes  would 
rise  to  it's  original  level.  There  is  a  person  now  living  who  had 
been  employed  formerly  in  digging  for  these  pipes,  and  once 
discovered  several  yards,  which  they  sold  for  old  lead. 

There  was  also  a  plot  of  ground  called  Tan-house  garden  :  and 
"  Tannaria  sua,"  a  tan-yard  of  their  own,  has  been  mentioned  in 
Letter  XVI.  This  circumstance  I  just  take  notice  of,  as  an 
instance  that  monasteries  had  trades  and  occupations  earned  on 
within  themselves.1 

Registr.  B.  pag.  112.  Here  we  find  a  lease  of  the  parsonage 
of  Selbome  to  Thomas  Sylvester  and  Miles  Arnold,  husbandmen — 
of  the  tythes  of  all  manner  of  come  pertaining  to  the  parsonage 
— with  the  offerings  at  the  chapel  of  Whaddon  belonging  to  the 
said  parsonage.  Dat.  June  1.  27th.  Hen  8th.  [viz.  1536.] 

As  the  chapel  of  Whaddon  has  never  been  mentioned  till  now, 
and  as  it  is  not  noticed  by  bishop  Tanner  in  his  Notitia  Monastica, 
some  more  particular  account  of  it  will  be  proper  in  this  place. 
Wfiaddon  was  a  chapel  of  ease  to  the  mother  church  of  Selbome, 
and  was  situated  in  the  tithing  of  Oakhanger,  at  about  two  miles 
distance  from  the  village.  The  farm  and  field  whereon  it  stood 
are  still  called  chapel-farm  and  Jield  :  2  but  there  are  no  remains 
or  traces  of  the  building  itself,  the  very  foundations  having  been 
destroyed  before  the  memory  of  man.  In  a  farm  yard  at  Oak- 
hanger  we  remember  a  large  hollow  stone  of  a  close  substance, 
which  had  been  used  as  a  hog-trough,  but  was  then  broken.  This 
stone,  tradition  said,  had  been  the  baptismal  font  of  Whaddon 
chapel.  The  chapel  had  been  in  a  very  ruinous  state  in  old 
days ;  but  was  new  built  at  the  instance  of  bishop  Wainfleet, 
about  the  year  1 4«63,  during  the  Jirst  priorship  of  Berne,  in  con- 
sequence of  a  sequestration  issued  forth  by  that  visitor  against  the 
Priory  on  account  of  notorious  and  shameful  dilapidations.3 

The  Selbome  rivulet  becomes  of  some  breadth  at  Oakhanger, 


1  There  is  still  a  wood  near  the  Priory  called  Tanner 's  wood. 

aThis  is  a  manor-farm,  at  present  the  property  of  Lord  Stawell ;  and  belonged 
probably  in  ancient  times  to  Jo.  de  Venur,  or  Venuz,  one  of  the  first  benefactors 
to  the  Priory. 

3  See  Letter  XIX.  of  these  Antiquities.—"  Summa  total,  solut.  de  novis  edifica- 
"tionibus,  et  reparacionibus  per  idem  tempus,  ut  patet  per  comput." 

"Videlicet  de  nova  edificat.  Capelle  Marie  de  Wadden.  xiiii.  lib.  vx  v'md. — 
"  Reparacionibus  ecclesie  Prioratus,  cancellor.  et  capellar.  ecclesiarum  et  capel- 
"  larum  de  Selborne,  et  Estworhlam."—&c.  &c. 


310  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

and,  in  very  wet  seasons,  swells  to  a  large  flood.  There  is  a 
bridge  over  the  stream  at  this  hamlet  of  considerable  antiquity 
and  peculiar  shape,  known  by  the  name  of  Tunbridge :  it  consists 
of  one  single  blunt  gothic  arch,  so  high  and  sharp  as  to  render  the 
passage  not  very  convenient  or  safe.  Here  was  also,  we  find,  a 
bridge  in  very  early  times  ;  for  Jacobus  de  Hochangre,  the  first 
benefactor  to  the  Priory  of  Selborne,  held  his  estate  at  Hochangre 
by  the  service  of  providing  the  king  one  foot-soldier  for  forty 
days,  and  by  building  this  bridge.  "  Jacobus  de  Hochangre  tenet 
Hochangre  in  com.  Southampton,  per  Serjantiam,1  inveniendi  unum 
valectum  in  exercitu  Domini  regis  [scil.  Henrici  IIP11.]  per  40 
dies ;  et  ad  faciendum  pontem  de  Hochangre  :  et  valet  per  ann. 
C.  s."  Blount's  Ancient  Tenures,  p.  84-. 

A  dove-house  was  a  constant  appendage  to  a  manerial  dwelling  : 
of  this  convenience  more  will  be  said  hereafter. 

A  corn-mill  was  also  esteemed  a  necessary  appendage  of  every 
manor ;  and  therefore  was  to  be  expected  of  course  at  the 
Priory  of  Selborne. 

The  prior  had  secta  molendini,  or  ad  molendinum  : 2  a  power  of 
compelling  his  vassels  to  bring  their  corn  to  be  ground  at  his 
mill,  according  to  old  custom.  He  had  also,  according  to  bishop 
Tanner,  secta  molendini  de  Strete  :  but  the  purport  of  Strete,  we 
must  confess,  we  do  not  understand.  Strete,  in  old  English, 
signifies  a  road  or  highway,  as  IVatling  Strete,  &c.  therefore  the 
prior  might  have  some  mill  on  a  high  road.  The  Priory  had 
only  one  mill  originally  at  Selborne ;  but,  by  grants  of  lands,  it 
came  possessed  of  one  at  Durton,  and  one  at  Oakhanger,  and  pro- 
bably some  on  it's  other  several  manors.3  The  mill  at  the 
Priory  was  in  use  within  the  memory  of  man,  and  the  ruins  of 
the  mill-house  were  standing  within  these  thirty  years :  the  pond 
and  dam,  and  miller's  dwelling,  still  remain.  As  the  stream  was 
apt  to  fail  in  very  dry  summers,  the  tenants  found  their  situation 
very  distressing,  for  want  of  water,  and  so  were  forced  to  abandon 
the  spot.  This  inconvenience  was  probably  never  felt  in  old 
times,  when  the  whole  district  was  nothing  but  woodlands :  and 
yet  several  centuries  ago  there  seem  to  have  been  two  or  three 

1  Sargenlia,  a  sort  of  tenure  of  doing  something  for  the  king. 

2  "  Servitium,  quo  feudatorii  grana  sua  ad  Domini  molendinum,  ibi  molenda 
"  perferre,  ex  consuetudine,  astringuntur." 

3  Thomas  Knowles,  president,  &c.   ann.   Hen.  8vi.    xxiii.0  [viz.   1532.]  demised 
to  /.    Whitelie  their  mills,   &c.   for  twenty  years.     Rent  xxiiu.    \\\\d. — Accepted 
Frewen,   president,  &c.   ann.    Caroli  xv.  [viz.    1640.]  demised  to  Jo.   Hook  and 
Elizabeth,,  his  wife,  the  said  mills.     Rent  as  above. 


OF  SELBOENE  311 

mills  between  Well-head  and  the  Priory.     For  the  reason  of  this 
assertion,  see  Letter  XXIX.  to  Mr.  Barrington. 

Occasional  mention  has  been  made  of  the  many  privileges  and 
immunities  enjoyed  by  the  convent  and  it's  priors ;  but  a  more 
particular  state  seems  to  be  necessary.  The  author  therefore 
thinks  this  the  proper  place,  before  he  concludes  these  antiquities, 
to  introduce  all  that  has  been  collected  by  the  judicious  bishop 
Tanner,  respecting  the  Priory  and  it's  advantages,  in  his  Notitia 
Monastica,  a  book  now  seldom  seen,  on  account  of  the  extravagance 
of  it's  price ;  and  being  but  in  few  hands  cannot  be  easily  con- 
sulted.1 He  also  adds  a  few  of  it's  many  privileges  from  other 
authorities  : — the  account  is  as  follows.  Tanner,  page  166. 


SELEBURNE. 

A  priory  of  black  canons,  founded  by  the  often-mentioned  Peter 
de  Rupibus,  bishop  of  Winchester,  A.D.  1233,  and  dedicated  to  the 
blessed  Virgin  Maty :  but  was  suppressed — and  granted  to  William 
Wainfteet,  bishop  of  Winchester,  who  made  it  part  of  the  endow- 
ment of  St.  Mary  Magdalene  College  in  Oxford.  The  bishops  of 
Winchester  were  patrons  of  it.  [Pat.  17.  Edw.  II.]  Vide  in  Mon. 
Angl.  torn.  II.  p.  343.  "  Cartam  fundationis  ex  ipso  autographo 
"  in  archivis  Coll.  Magd.  Oxon.  ubi  etiam  conservata  sunt  registra, 
"  cartae,  rentalia  et  alia  munimenta  ad  hunc  prioratum  spectantia. 

"Extracta  quaedam  e  registro  MSS.  in  Bibl.  Bodl.  Dodsworth, 
"vol.  89.  f.  140." 

"Cart,  antiq.  N.  N.  n.  33.  P.  P.  n.  48.  et  71.  Q.  Q.  n.  40.  plac. 
"coram  justit.  itin.  [Southampton]  20  Hen.  rot.  25.  De  eccl.  de 
"  Basijig,  fy  Basingstoke.  Plac.  de  juratis  apud  Winton.  40  Hen. 
"III.  rot. — Prosecta  molendini  de  Strete.  Cart.  54.  Hen.  III.  m. 
"  3.  [De  mercatu,  fy  feria  apud  Selebome,  a  mistake.]  Pat.  9.  Edw.  I. 
"m.— Pat.  30.  Edw.  I  m.— Pat.  33.  Edw.  I  p.  1.  m.— Pat.  35.  Edw. 
"I.  m.— Pat.  1.  Edw.  II.  p.  1.  m.  9.  Pat.  5.  Edw.  II.  p.  1.  m.  21. 
"De  terris  in  Actianger.  Pat.  6.  Edw.  II.  p.  1.  m.  7.  de  eisdem. 
"Brev.  in  Scacc.  6.  Edw.  II.  Pasch.  rot.  8.  Pat.  17.  Edw.  II.  p. 
"  1.  m. — Cart.  10.  Edw.  III.  n.  24.  Quod  terrae  suae  in  Seleburn, 
"  Achangre,  Norton,  Basings,  Basingstoke,  and  Nately,  sint  de  affores- 
"tatae,  and  pro  aliis  libertatibus.  Pat.  12.  Edw.  III.  p.  3.  m.  3. — 
"Pat.  13.  Edw.  III.  p.  1.  m.— Cart.  18.  Edw.  III.  n.  24." 

*A  few  days  after  this  was  written  a  new  edition  of  this  valuable  work  was 
announced,  in  the  month  of  April  of  the  year  1787,  as  published  by  Mr.  Nasmith. 


312  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

"  N.  N.  33.  Rex  concessit  quod  prior,  et  canonic!  de  Seleburn 
<{  habeant  per  terras  suas  de  Seleburne,  Achangre,  Norton,  Brompden, 
*'\Basinges,  Basingstoke,  &  Nately,  diversas  libertates. 

•  "  P.  P.  48.  Quod  prior  de  Seleburne,  habeat  terras  suas  quietas 
"de  vasto,  et  regardo." — Extracts  from  Ayloffe's  Calendars  of 
"Ancient  Charters. 

"  Placita  de  juratis  &  assis  coram  Salom  de  Roff,  &  sociis  suis 
"justic.  itiner.  apud  Wynion  in  comitatu  Sutht.  • — anno  regni  R. 
"  Edvardi  filii  reg.  Henr.  octavo. — Et  Por  de  Seleborn  ht  in  Selebr. 
" fure.  thurset.  pillory,  emendasse  pants,  fy  suis"  [cerevisiae.] — 
Chapter-house,  Westminster. 

"  Placita  Foreste  apud  Wynton  in  com.  Sutham. — Anno  reg. 
"  Edwardi  octavo  coram  Rog.  de  Clifford.  —  &c.  Justic.  ad  eadem 
"placita  audienda  et  minand.  assigtis. 

"  Carta  Pror  de  Seleburn,  H.  Dei  gra.  rex.  angl.  &c.  Conces- 
"sim.  prior,  see.  Marie  de  Seleburn.  et  canonicis  ibidem  Deo 

"  servient. q  ipi  et  oes  hoies  sui  in  pdcis  terris  suis  et 

"  tenementis  manentes  sint  in  ppetum  quieti  de  sectis  Swanemotor. 
"  et  omnium  alior.  placitor.  for.  et  de  espeltamentis  canum.  et  de 
"  omnibus  submonitoibz.  placitis  querelis  et  exaccoibus  et  occoibz. 
"ad  for.  et  for.  et  viridar.  et  eor.  ministros  ptinentibz." — 

Chapter-house,  Westminster. 

"  Plita  Forestarum  in  com.  Sutht.  apud  Suthamton anno 

"  regni  regis  Edwardi  tcii  post  conquestum  quarto  coram  Johe 
"  Mantvers.  &c.  justic.  itinand.  &c." 

De  hiis  qui  clamant  libtates  infra  Forestas  in  com.  Sutht. 

"  Prior  de  Selebourne  clamat  esse  quietus  erga  dnm  regem  de 
"omnibus  finibus  et  amerciamentis  p  tnsgr.  et  omnibus  exac- 
"  coibz  ad  Dom.  regem  vel  hered.  suos  ptinent.  pret.  plita  corone 
"reg. 

"  Item  clamat  qd  si  aliquis  hominum  suorum  de  terris  et  ten.  p. 
"  delicto  suo  vitam  aut  membrum  debeat  amittere  vel  fugiat,  & 
"judico  stare  noluerit  vel  aliud  delictum  fecit  pro  quo  debeat 
"catella  sua  amittere,  ubicunq ;  justitia  fieri  debeat  omnia  catella 
"  ilia  sint  ptci  Prioris  et  successor,  suor.  Et  liceat  eidem  priori  et 
"  ballis  suis  ponere  se  in  seisinam  in  hujus  modi  catall.  in  casibus 
"  pdcis  sine  disturbacone  ballivor.  dni  reg.  quorumcunque. 

"  Item  clam,  quod  licet  aliqua  libtatum  p  dnm  regem  conces- 


OF  SELBORNE  313 

"  sar.  pcessu  temporis  quocunq  ;  casu  contingente  usi  non  fuerint 
"  nlominus  postea  eadm  libtate  uti  possit.  Et  pdcus  prior  quesitus 
"p.  justic.  quo  waranto  clamat  omn.  terr.  et  ten.  sua  in  Selebume, 
"  Norton,  Basynges,  Basyngestoke,  &  Nattele,  que  prior  domus  pdte 
"  huit  &  tenuit  Xmo.  die  April  anno  regni  dni  Hen.  reg.  pavi  dni 
"reg.  nue  XVIII.  imppm  esse  quieta  de  vasto  et  regardo,  et  visu 
"  forestarior.  et  viridarior.  regardator.  et  omnium  ministrorum 
"foreste,"  &c.  &c.  Chapter-house,  Westminster. 


LETTER  XXVI. 

THOUGH  the  evidences  and  documents  of  the  Priory  and  parish  of 
Selborne  are  now  at  an  end,  yet,  as  the  author  has  still  several 
things  to  say  respecting  the  present  state  of  that  convent  and  it's 
Grange,  and  other  matters,  he  does  not  see  how  he  can  acquit 
himself  of  the  subject  without  trespassing  again  on  the  patience 
of  the  reader  by  adding  one  supplementary  letter. 

No  sooner  did  the  Priory  (perhaps  much  out  of  repair  at  the 
time)  become  an  appendage  to  the  college,  but  it  must  at  once 
have  tended  to  swift  decay.  Magdalen  College  wanted  now  only 
two  chambers  for  the  chantry  priest  and  his  assistant ;  and  there- 
fore had  no  occasion  for  the  hall,  dormitory,  and  other  spacious 
apartments  belonging  to  so  large  a  foundation.  The  roofs  neg- 
lected, would  soon  become  the  possession  of  daws  and  owls  ;  and, 
being  rotted  and  decayed  by  the  weather,  would  fall  in  upon  the 
floors  ;  so  that  all  parts  must  have  hastened  to  speedy  dilapidation 
and  a  scene  of  broken  ruins.  Three  full  centuries  have  now 
passed  since  the  dissolution ;  a  series  of  years  that  would  craze 
the  stoutest  edifices.  But,  besides  the  slow  hand  of  time,  many 
circumstances  have  contributed  to  level  this  venerable  structure 
with  the  ground ;  of  which  nothing  now  remains  but  one  piece 
of  a  wall  of  about  ten  feet  long,  and  as  many  feet  high,  which 
probably  was  part  of  an  out-house.  As  early  as  the  latter  end  of 
the  reign  of  Hen.  VII.  we  find  that  a  farm-house  and  two  barns 
were  built  to  the  south  of  the  Priory,  and  undoubtedly  out  of  it's 
materials.  Avarice  again  has  much  contributed  to  the  overthrow 
of  this  stately  pile,  as  long  as  the  tenants  could  make  money  of 
it's  stones  or  timbers.  Wantonness,  no  doubt,  has  had  a  share  in 
the  demolition ;  for  boys  love  to  destroy  what  men  venerate  and 
admire.  A  remarkable  instance  of  this  propensity  the  writer  can 


314  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

give  from  his  own  knowledge.  When  a  schoolboy,  more  than 
fifty  years  ago,  he  was  eye-witness,  perhaps  a  party  concerned,  in 
the  undermining  a  portion  of  that  fine  old  ruin  at  the  north  end  of 
Basingstoke  town,  well  known  by  the  name  of  Holy  Ghost  Chapel. 
Very  providentially  the  vast  fragment,  which  these  thoughtless 
little  engineers  endeavoured  to  sap,  did  not  give  way  so  soon  as 
might  have  been  expected ;  but  it  fell  the  night  following,  and 
with  such  violence  that  it  shook  the  very  ground,  and,  awakening 
the  inhabitants  of  the  neighbouring  cottages,  made  them  start  up 
in  their  beds  as  if  they  had  felt  an  earthquake.  The  motive  for 
this  dangerous  attempt  does  not  so  readily  appear :  perhaps  the 
more  danger  the  more  honour  thought  the  boys ;  and  the  notion 
of  doing  some  mischief  gave  a  zest  to  the  enterprize.  As  Dryden 
says  upon  an  other  occasion, 

"  It  look'd  so  like  a  sin  it  pleas' d  the  more." 

Had  the  Priory  been  only  levelled  to  the  surface  of  the  ground, 
the  discerning  eye  of  an  antiquary  might  have  ascertained  it's 
ichnography,  and  some  judicious  hand  might  have  developed  it's 
dimensions.  But,  besides  other  ravages,  the  very  foundations 
have  been  torn  up  for  the  repair  of  the  highways :  so  that  the 
site  of  this  convent  is  now  become  a  rough,  rugged  pasture-field, 
full  of  hillocks  and  pits,  choaked  with  nettles,  and  dwarf-elder, 
and  trampled  by  the  feet  of  the  ox  and  the  heifer. 

As  the  tenant  at  the  Priory  was  lately  digging  among  the 
foundations,  for  materials  to  mend  the  highways,  his  labourers 
discovered  two  large  stones,  with  which  the  farmer  was  so  pleased 
that  he  ordered  them  to  be  taken  out  whole.  One  of  these 
proved  to  be  a  large  Doric  capital,  worked  in  good  taste ;  and 
the  other  a  base  of  a  pillar  ;  both  formed  out  of  the  soft  freestone 
of  this  district.  These  ornaments,  from  their  dimensions,  seem 
to  have  belonged  to  massive  columns ;  and  shew  that  the  church 
of  this  convent  was  a  large  and  costly  edifice.  They  were  found 
in  the  space  which  has  always  been  supposed  to  have  contained 
the  south  transept  of  the  Priory  church.  Some  fragments  of 
large  pilasters  were  also  found  at  the  same  time.  The  diameter 
of  the  capital  was  two  feet  three  inches  and  an  half ;  and  of  the 
column,  where  it  had  stood  on  the  base,  eighteen  inches  and 
three  quarters. 

Two  years  ago  some  labourers  digging  again  among  the  ruins 
found  a  sort  of  rude  thick  vase  or  urn  of  soft  stone,  containing 
about  two  gallons  in  measure,  on  the  verge  of  the  brook,  in  the 


OF  SELBORNE  315 

very  spot  which  tradition  has  always  pointed  out  as  having  been 
the  site  of  the  convent  kitchen.  This  clumsy  utensil,1  whether 
intended  for  holy  water,  or  whatever  purpose,  we  were  going  to 
procure,  but  found  that  the  labourers  had  just  broken  it  in  pieces, 
and  carried  it  out  on  the  highways. 

The  Priory  of  Selborne  had  possessed  in  this  village  a  Grange, 
an  usual  appendage  to  manerial  estates,  where  the  fruits  of  their 
lands  were  stowed  and  laid  up  for  use,  at  a  time  when  men  took 
the  natural  produce  of  their  estates  in  kind.  The  mansion  of 
this  spot  is  still  called  the  Grange,  and  is  the  manor-house  of 
the  convent  possessions  in  this  place.  The  author  has  conversed 
with  very  ancient  people  who  remembered  the  old  original 
Grange;  but  it  has  long  given  place  to  a  modern  farm-house. 
Magdalen  College  holds  a  court-leet  and  court-baron  2  in  the  great 
wheat-barn  of  the  said  Grange,  annually,  where  the  President 
usually  superintends,  attended  by  the  bursar  and  steward  of  the 
college.8 

The  following  uncommon  presentment  at  the  court  is  not 
unworthy  of  notice.  There  is  on  the  south  side  of  the  king's 
field  (a  large  common-field  so  called)  a  considerable  tumulus,  or 
hillock,  now  covered  with  thorns  and  bushes,  and  known  by  the 
name  of  Kite's  Hill,  which  is  presented,  year  by  year,  in  court  as 
not  ploughed.  Why  this  injunction  is  still  kept  up  respecting 
this  spot,  which  is  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  arable  land,  may  be 
a  question  not  easily  solved,  since  the  usage  has  long  survived 
the  knowledge  of  the  intention  thereof.  We  can  only  suppose 
that  as  the  prior,  besides  thurset  and  pillory,  had  also  f ureas,  a 
power  of  life  and  death,  that  he  might  have  reserved  this  little 
eminence  as  the  place  of  execution  for  delinquents.  And  there 
is  the  more  reason  to  suppose  so,  since  a  spot  just  by  is  called 
Gaily  [Gallows]  hill. 

The  lower  part  of  the  village  next  the  Grange,  in  which  is 
a  pond  and  a  stream,  is  well  known  by  the  name  of  Gracious- 
street,  an  appellation  not  at  all  understood.  There  is  a  lake  in 
Surrey,  near  Chobham,  called  also  Gracious-pond :  and  another,  if 

1 A  judicious  antiquary,  who  saw  this  vase,  observed,  that  it  possibly  might  have 
been  a  standard  measure  between  the  monastery  and  it's  tenants.  The  priory  we 
have  mentioned  claimed  the  assize  of  bread  and  beer  in  Selborne  manor  :  and  pro- 
bably the  adjustment  of  dry  measures  for  grain,  &c. 

2  The  time  when  this  court  is  held  is  the  mid-week  between  Easter  and  Whit- 
suntide. 

sOwen  Oglethorp,  president,  &c.  an.  Edw.  Sexti,  primo  [viz.  1547.]  demised  to 
Robert  Arden  Selborne  Grange  for  twenty  years.  Rent  viu . — Index  of  Leases. 


316  THE  ANTIQUITIES 

we  mistake  not,  near  Hedleigh,  in  the  county  of  Hants.  This 
strange  denomination  we  do  not  at  all  comprehend,  and  conclude 
that  it  may  be  a  corruption  from  some  Saxon  word,  itself  perhaps 
forgotten. 

It  has  been  observed  already,  that  Bishop  Tanner  was  mistaken 
when  he  refers  to  an  evidence  of  Dodsworth,  "  JDe  mercatu  et  FERIA 
de  Seleburne  ".  .  Selborne  never  had  a  chartered  fair ;  the  present 
fair  was  set  up  since  the  year  1681,  by  a  set  of  jovial  fellows,  who 
had  found  in  an  old  almanack  that  there  had  been  a  fair  here  in 
former  days  on  the  first  of  August ;  and  were  desirous  to  revive 
so  joyous  a  festival.  Against  this  innovation  the  vicar  set  his 
face,  and  persisted  in  crying  it  down,  as  the  probable  occasion  of 
much  intemperance.  However  the  fair  prevailed ;  but  was 
altered  to  the  twenty-ninth  of  May,  because  the  former  day  often 
interfered  with  wheat -harvest.  On  that  day  it  still  continues  to 
be  held,  and  is  become  an  useful  mart  for  cows  and  calves. 
Most  of  the  lower  house-keepers  brew  beer  against  this  holiday, 
which  is  dutied  by  the  exciseman  ;  and  their  becoming  victuallers 
for  the  day  without  a  license  is  overlooked. 

Monasteries  enjoyed  all  sorts  of  conveniences  within  themselves. 
Thus  at  the  Priory,  a  low  and  moist  situation,  there  were  ponds 
and  stews  for  their  fish :  at  the  same  place  also,  and  at  the 
Grange  in  Culver-croft}1  there  were  dove-houses ;  and  on  the  hill 
opposite  to  the  Grange  the  prior  had  a  warren,  as  the  names  of 
The  Coney-crofts  and  Coney-croft  Hanger  plainly  testify.2 

Nothing  has  been  said  as  yet  respecting  the  tenure  or  holding 
of  the  Selborne  estates.  Temple  and  Norton  are  manor  farms  and 
freehold  ;  as  is  the  manor  of  Chapel  near  Oakhanger,  and  also  the 
estate  at  Oakhanger -house  and  Black-moor.  The  Priory  and  Grange 
are  leasehold  under  Magdalen-college,  for  twenty-one  years,  re- 
newable every  seven :  all  the  smaller  estates  in  and  round  the 
village  are  copyhold  of  inheritance  under  the  college,  except  the 
little  remains  of  Gurdon-manor,  which  had  been  of  old  leased  out 
upon  lives,  but  have  been  freed  of  late  by  their  present  lord,  as 
fast  as  those  lives  have  dropped. 

Selborne  seems  to  have  derived  much  of  it's  prosperity  from 
the  near  neighbourhood  of  the  Priory.  For  monasteries  were  of 
considerable  advantage  to  places  where  they  had  their  sites  and 
estates,  by  causing  great  resort,  by  procuring  markets  and  fairs, 


1  Culver,  as  has  been  observed  before,  is  Saxon  for  a  pigeon. 

2  A  warren  was  an  usual  appendage  to  a  manor. 


OF  SELBORNE  317 

by  freeing  them  from  the  cruel  oppression  of  forest-laws,  and  by 
letting  their  lands  at  easy  rates.  But,  as  soon  as  the  convent  was 
suppressed,  the  town  which  it  had  occasioned  began  to  decline, 
and  the  market  was  less  frequented ;  the  rough  and  sequestered 
situation  gave  a  check  to  resort,  and  the  neglected  roads  rendered 
it  less  and  less  accessible. 

That  it  had  been  a  considerable  place  for  size  formerly  appears 
from  the  largeness  of  the  church,  which  much  exceeds  those  of 
the  neighbouring  villages ;  by  the  ancient  extent  of  the  burying 
ground,  which,  from  human  bones  occasionally  dug  up,  is  found 
to  have  been  much  encroached  upon ;  by  giving  a  name  to  the 
hundred ;  by  the  old  foundations  and  ornamented  stones,  and 
tracery  of  windows  that  have  been  discovered  on  the  north-east 
side  of  the  village ;  and  by  the  many  vestiges  of  disused  fish- 
ponds still  to  be  seen  around  it.  For  ponds  and  stews  were 
multiplied  in  the  times  of  popery,  that  the  affluent  might  enjoy 
some  variety  at  their  tables  on  fast  days ;  therefore  the  more 
they  abounded  the  better  probably  was  the  condition  of  the 
inhabitants. 

[The  Appendix  (pp.  431-468  in  orig.),  giving  in  Latin  a  number  of  papers  relating 
to  the  Priory  of  Selborne,  is  not  reprinted  here.  Bell's  and  Buckland's  editions 
contain  an  Appendix  by  the  late  Lord  Selborne  on  the  Romano-British  Antiquities 
of  Selborne.] 


OBSERVATIONS 
ON 

VARIOUS  PARTS  OF  NATURE. 
FROM  MR.  WHITER  MSS.1 


1[The  following  passages  were  selected  from  Gilbert  White's  diaries  by  Dr. 
Aikin,  and  printed  in  the  same  volume  with  the  Naturalist's  Calendar  (1795).  ^n 
the  edition  of  White's  Selborne,  published  in  1802  and  arranged  by  Dr.  Aikin, 
Markwick's  Calendar  and  Observations  were  added,  and  these  have  been  commonly 
retained  by  later  editors.  They  are  of  small  value,  and  are  not  reprinted  here  ;  nor 
have  we  thought  it  necessary  to  include  the  Naturalist's  Calendar,  which  White 
never  saw  and  which  he  deliberately  refrained  from  compiling  for  the  History.  See 
Letter  LXVI.  to  Harrington.] 


OBSERVATIONS    ON  BIRDS. 

BIRDS  IN  GENERAL. 

IN  severe  weather  fieldfares,  red-wings,  sky-larks,  and  tit-larks, 
resort  to  watered  meadows  for  food ;  the  latter  wades  up  to  its 
belly  in  pursuit  of  the  pupae  of  insects,  and  runs  along  upon  the 
floating  grass  and  weeds.  Many  gnats  are  on  the  snow  near  the 
water  ;  these  support  the  birds  in  part. 

Birds  are  much  influenced  in  their  choice  of  food  by  colour,  for 
though  white  currants  are  a  much  sweeter  fruit  than  red,  yet  they 
seldom  touch  the  former  till  they  have  devoured  every  bunch  of 
the  latter. 

Red-starts,  fly-catchers,  and  black-caps,  arrive  early  in  April. 
If  these  little  delicate  beings  are  birds  of  passage  (as  we  have 
reason  to  suppose  they  are,  because  they  are  never  seen  in  winter) 
how  could  they,  feeble  as  they  seem,  bear  up  against  such  storms 
of  snow  and  rain,  and  make  their  way  through  such  meteorous 
turbulences,  as  one  should  suppose  would  embarrass  and  retard 
the  most  hardy  and  resolute  of  the  winged  nation  ?  Yet  they 
keep  their  appointed  times  and  seasons  ;  and  in  spite  of  frosts  and 
winds  return  to  their  stations  periodically,  as  if  they  had  met  with 
nothing  to  obstruct  them.  The  withdrawing  and  appearance  of 
the  short-winged  summer  birds  is  a  very  puzzling  circumstance  in 
natural  history ! 

When  the  boys  bring  me  wasps'  nests,  my  bantam  fowls  fare 
deliciously,  and  when  the  combs  are  pulled  to  pieces,  devour  the 
young  wasps  in  their  maggot  state  with  the  highest  glee  and  de- 
light. Any  insect-eating  bird  would  do  the  same  ;  and  therefore 
I  have  often  wondered  that  the  accurate  Mr.  Ray  should  call  one 
species  of  buzzard  buteo  apivorus  sive  vespivorus,  or  the  honey-buz- 
zard, because  some  combs  of  wasps  happened  to  be  found  in  one 
of  their  nests.  The  combs  were  conveyed  thither  doubtless  for 
the  sake  of  the  maggots  or  nymphs,  and  not  for  their  honey  :  since 
21  (321) 


322  OBSERVATIONS  ON 

none  is  to  be  found  in  the  combs  of  wasps.  Birds  of  prey  occa- 
sionally feed  on  insects ;  thus  have  I  seen  a  tame  kite  picking  up 
the  female  ants  full  of  eggs  with  much  satisfaction. 


ROOKS. 

Rooks  are  continually  fighting  and  pulling  each  others'  nests  to 
pieces  :  these  proceedings  are  inconsistent  with  living  in  such  close 
community.  And  yet  if  a  pair  offers  to  build  on  a  single  tree,  the 
nest  is  plundered  and  demolished  at  once.  Some  rooks  roost  on 
their  nest-trees.  The  twigs  which  the  rooks  drop  in  building 
supply  the  poor  with  brushwood  to  light  their  fires.  Some  un- 
happy pairs  are  not  permitted  to  finish  any  nest  till  the  rest  have 
completed  their  building.  As  soon  as  they  get  a  few  sticks  to- 
gether, a  party  comes  and  demolishes  the  whole.  As  soon  as 
rooks  have  finished  their  nests,  and  before  they  lay,  the  cocks 
begin  to  feed  the  hens,  who  receive  their  bounty  with  a  fondling 
tremulous  voice  and  fluttering  wings,  and  all  the  little  blandish- 
ments that  are  expressed  by  the  young,  while  in  a  helpless  state. 
This  gallant  deportment  of  the  males  is  continued  through  the 
whole  season  of  incubation.  These  birds  do  not  copulate  on  trees, 
nor  in  their  nests,  but  on  the  ground  in  open  fields. 


THRUSHES. 

Thrushes  during  long  droughts  are  of  great  service  in  hunting 
out  shell-snails,  which  they  pull  in  pieces  for  their  young,  and  are 
therefore  very  serviceable  in  gardens.  Missel  thrushes  do  not 
destroy  the  fruit  in  gardens  like  the  other  species  of  turdi,  but 
feed  on  the  berries  of  misseltoe,  and  in  the  spring  on  ivy  berries, 
which  then  begin  to  ripen.  In  the  summer,  when  their  young 
become  fledged,  they  leave  neighbourhoods,  and  retire  to  sheep 
walks  and  wild  commons. 

The  magpies,  when  they  have  young,  destroy  the  broods  of 
missel  thrushes,  though  the  dams  are  fierce  birds,  and  fight  boldly 
in  defence  of  their  nests.  It  is  probably  to  avoid  such  insults, 
that  this  species  of  thrush,  though  wild  at  other  times,  delights 
to  build  near  houses,  and  in  frequented  walks  and  gardens. 


VARIOUS  PARTS  OF  NATURE       323 


POULTRY. 

Many  creatures  are  endowed  with  a  ready  discernment  to  see 
what  will  turn  to  their  own  advantage  and  emolument ;  and  often 
discover  more  sagacity  than  could  be  expected.  Thus  my  neigh- 
bour's poultry  watch  for  waggons  loaded  with  wheat,  and  running 
after  them  pick  up  a  number  of  grains  which  are  shaken  from  the 
sheaves  by  the  agitation  of  the  carriages.  Thus,  when  my  brother 
used  to  take  down  his  gun  to  shoot  sparrows,  his  cats  would  run 
out  before  him,  to  be  ready  to  catch  up  the  birds  as  they  fell. 

The  earnest  and  early  propensity  of  the  gallince  to  roost  on 
high  is  very  observable ;  and  discovers  a  strong  dread  impressed 
on  their  spirits  respecting  vermin  that  may  annoy  them  on  the 
ground  during  the  hours  of  darkness.  Hence  poultry,  if  left  to 
themselves  and  not  housed,  will  perch  the  winter  through  on  yew- 
trees  and  fir-trees ;  and  turkies  and  guinea-fowls,  heavy  as  they 
are,  get  up  into  apple  trees  ;  pheasants  also  in  woods  sleep  on  trees 
to  avoid  foxes ;  while  pea-fowls  climb  to  the  tops  of  the  highest 
trees  round  their  owner's  house  for  security,  let  the  weather  be 
ever  so  cold  or  blowing.  Partridges,  it  is  true,  roost  on  the 
ground,  not  having  the  faculty  of  perching ;  but  then  the  same 
fear  prevails  in  their  minds  ;  for  through  apprehensions  from  pole- 
cats and  stoats,  they  never  trust  themselves  to  coverts,  but  nestle 
together  in  the  midst  of  large  fields,  far  removed  from  hedges  and 
coppices,  which  they  love  to  haunt  in  the  day,  and  where  at  that 
season  they  can  sculk  more  secure  from  the  ravages  of  rapacious 
birds. 

As  to  ducks  and  geese,  their  awkward,  splay  web-feet  forbid 
them  to  settle  on  trees ;  they  therefore,  in  the  hours  of  darkness 
and  danger,  betake  themselves  to  their  own  element,  the  water, 
where,  amidst  large  lakes  and  pools,  like  ships  riding  at  anchor, 
they  float  the  whole  night  long  in  peace  and  security. 


HEN  PARTRIDGE. 

A  hen-partridge  came  out  of  a  ditch,  and  ran  along  shivering 
with  her  wings,  and  crying  out  as  if  wounded,  and  unable  to  get 
from  us.  While  the  dam  acted  this  distress,  the  boy  who  attended 
me  saw  her  brood,  that  was  small  and  unable  to  fly,  run  for  shelter 
into  an  old  fox-earth  under  the  bank.  So  wonderful  a  power  is 
instinct ! 


324  OBSERVATIONS  ON 


A  HYBRID  PHEASANT. 

Lord  Stawell  sent  me  from  the  great  lodge  in  the  Holt  a  curious 
bird  for  my  inspection.  It  was  found  by  the  spaniels  of  one  of  his 
keepers  in  a  coppice,  and  shot  on  the  wing.  The  shape,  air,  and 
habit  of  the  bird,  and  the  scarlet  ring  round  the  eyes,  agreed  well 
with  the  appearance  of  a  cock-pheasant :  but  then  the  head  and 
neck,  and  breast  and  belly  were  of  a  glossy  black :  and  though  it 
weighed  three  pounds  three  ounces  and  a  half,1  the  weight  of  a 
large  full-grown  cock-pheasant,  yet  there  were  no  signs  of  any 
spurs  on  the  legs,  as  is  usual  with  all  grown  cock-pheasants,  who 
have  long  ones.  The  legs  and  feet  were  naked  of  feathers,  and 
therefore  it  could  be  nothing  of  the  grous  kind.  In  the  tail  were 
no  long  bending  feathers,  such  as  cock-pheasants  usually  have, 
and  are  characteristic  of  the  sex.  The  tail  was  much  shorter  than 
the  tail  of  a  hen-pheasant,  and  blunt  and  square  at  the  end.  The 
back,  wing  feathers,  and  tail,  were  all  of  a  pale  russet  curiously 
streaked,  somewhat  like  the  upper  parts  of  a  hen-partridge.  I 
returned  it  with  my  verdict,  that  it  was  probably  a  spurious  or 
hybrid  hen-bird,  bred  between  a  cock-pheasant  arid  some  domestic 
fowl.  When  I  came  to  talk  with  the  keeper  who  brought  it,  he 
told  me  that  some  pea-hens  had  been  known  last  summer  to  haunt 
the  coppices  and  coverts  where  this  mule  was  found. 

Mr.  Elmer,  of  Farnham,  the  famous  game  painter,  was  employed 
to  take  an  exact  copy  of  this  curious  bird. 

N.  B.  It  ought  to  be  mentioned,  that  some  good  judges  have 
imagined  this  bird  to  have  been  a  stray  grous  or  black-cock ;  it 
is  however  to  be  observed,  that  Mr.  W.  remarks,  that  its  legs 
and  feet  were  naked,  whereas  those  of  the  grous  are  feathered 
to  the  toes.2 


LAND-RAIL. 

A  man  brought  me  a  land-rail  or  daker-hen,  a  bird  so  rare  in 
this  district  that  we  seldom  see  more  than  one  or  two  in  a  season, 
and  those  only  in  autumn.  This  is  deemed  a  bird  of  passage  by 

1  Hen  pheasants  usually  weigh  only  two  pounds  ten  ounces. 

2  [There  can  now  be  no  doubt  that  this  bird  was  a  hybrid  between  the  black-cock 
and  the  pheasant.      The  coloured  engraving  in  some  of  the  early  editions  gives 
a  very  erroneous  idea  of  the  bird,  and  is  a  wretched  copy  from  Elmer's  clever 
painting,  mentioned  by  Gilbert  White,  which  was  given  to  him  by  Lord  Stawell, 
and  has  been  for  many  years  in  my  possession. — 


VARIOUS  PARTS  OF  NATURE      325 

all  the  writers  :  yet  from  its  formation  seems  to  be  poorly  qualified 
for  migration ;  for  its  wings  are  short,  and  placed  so  forward,  and 
out  of  the  centre  of  gravity,  that  it  flies  in  a  very  heavy  and 
embarrassed  manner,  with  its  legs  hanging  down ;  and  can  hardly 
be  sprung  a  second  time,  as  it  runs  very  fast,  and  seems  to  depend 
more  on  the  swiftness  of  its  feet  than  on  its  flying. 

When  we  came  to  draw  it,  we  found  the  entrails  so  soft  and 
tender,  that  in  appearance  they  might  have  been  dressed  like 
the  ropes  of  a  woodcock.  The  craw  or  crop  was  small  and  lank, 
containing  a  mucus ;  the  gizzard  thick  and  strong,  and  filled 
with  small  shell-snails,  some  whole,  and  many  ground  to  pieces 
through  the  attrition  which  is  occasioned  by  the  muscular  force 
and  motion  of  that  intestine.  We  saw  no  gravels  among  the 
food :  perhaps  the  shell-snails  might  perform  the  functions  of 
gravels  or  pebbles,  and  might  grind  one  another.  Land-rails 
used  to  abound  formerly,  I  remember,  in  the  low,  wet  bean-fields 
of  Christian  Malford  in  North  Wilts,  and  in  the  meadows  near 
Paradise  Gardens  at  Oxford,  where  I  have  often  heard  them  cry 
crexy  crex.  The  bird  mentioned  above  weighed  7J  oz.,  was  fat 
and  tender,  and  in  flavour  like  the  flesh  of  a  woodcock.  The 
liver  was  very  large  and  delicate. 

FOOD  OF  THE  RING-DOVE. 

One  of  my  neighbours  shot  a  ring-dove  on  an  evening  as  it 
was  returning  from  feed  and  going  to  roost.  When  his  wife  had 
picked  and  drawn  it,  she  found  its  craw  stuffed  with  the  most 
nice  and  tender  tops  of  turnips.  These  she  washed  and  boiled, 
and  so  sat  down  to  a  choice  and  delicate  plate  of  greens,  culled 
and  provided  in  this  extraordinary  manner. 

Hence  we  may  see  that  graminivorous  birds,  when  grain  fails, 
can  subsist  on  the  leaves  of  vegetables.  There  is  reason  to 
suppose  that  they  would  not  long  be  healthy  without ;  for  turkies, 
though  corn-fed,  delight  in  a  variety  of  plants,  such  as  cabbage, 
lettuce,  endive,  &c.  and  poultry  pick  much  grass ;  while  geese 
live  for  months  together  on  commons  by  grazing  alone. 

'  Nought  is  useless  made  ; 

' On  the  barren  heath 

'  The  shepherd  tends  his  flock  that  daily  crop 

'  Their  verdant  dinner  from  the  mossy  turf 

'  Sufficient :  after  them  the  cackling  goose, 

'  Close-grazer,  finds  wherewith  to  ease  her  want." 

PHILIPS'S  CYDER. 


326  OBSERVATIONS  ON 


HEN  HARRIER. 

Mr.  White  of  Newton  sprung  a  pheasant  in  a  wheat  stubble, 
and  shot  at  it ;  when,  notwithstanding  the  report  of  the  gun, 
it  was  immediately  pursued  by  the  blue  hawk,  known  by  the 
name  of  the  hen-harrier,  but  escaped  into  some  covert.  He 
then  sprung  a  second,  and  a  third,  in  the  same  field,  that  got 
away  in  the  same  manner ;  the  hawk  hovering  round  him  all 
the  while  that  he  was  beating  the  field,  conscious  no  doubt  of 
the  game  that  lurked  in  the  stubble.1  Hence  we  may  con- 
clude that  this  bird  of  prey  was  rendered  very  daring  and  bold 
by  hunger,  and  that  hawks  cannot  always  seize  their  game  when 
they  please.  We  may  farther  observe,  that  they  cannot  pounce 
their  quarry  on  the  ground,  where  it  might  be  able  to  make  a 
stout  resistance,  since  so  large  a  fowl  as  a  pheasant  could  not  but 
be  visible  to  the  piercing  eye  of  a  hawk,  when  hovering  over  the 
field.  Hence  that  propensity  of  co wring  and  squatting  till  they 
are  almost  trod  on,  which  no  doubt  was  intended  as  a  mode  of 
security  :  though  long  rendered  destructive  to  the  whole  race  of 
gallince  by  the  invention  of  nets  and  guns. 


GREAT  SPECKLED  DIVER,  OR  LOON. 

As  one  of  my  neighbours  was  traversing  Wolmer  forest  from 
Bramshot  across  the  moors,  he  found  a  large  uncommon  bird 
fluttering  in  the  heath,  but  not  wounded,  which  he  brought 
home  alive.  On  examination  it  proved  to  be  colymbus  glacialis 
Linn,  the  great  speckled  diver  or  loon,  which  is  most  excellently 
described  in  Willughby's  Ornithology. 

Every  part  and  proportion  of  this  bird  is  so  incomparably 
adapted  to  its  mode  of  life,  that  in  no  instance  do  we  see  the 
wisdom  of  God  in  the  creation  to  more  advantage.  The  head 
is  sharp,  and  smaller  than  the  part  of  the  neck  adjoining,  in  order 
that  it  may  pierce  the  water ;  the  wings  are  placed  forward  and 
out  of  the  center  of  gravity  for  a  purpose  which  shall  be  noticed 
hereafter ;  the  thighs  quite  at  the  podex,  in  order  to  facilitate 

1  ["  I  think  White  must  have  been  misinformed  as  to  the  species  of  Hawk  which 
performed  this  feat.  Its  actions  as  described  are  exactly  those  of  a  Falcon,  and  do 
not  agree  with  any  thing  that  has  been  observed  in  a  Harrier ;  so  that  I  have  little 
doubt  that  the  'blue  hawk'  was  an  adult  Peregrine  Falcon." — Newton,  in  Bell's 
edition.] 


VARIOUS  PARTS  OF  NATURE       327 

diving  ;  and  the  legs  are  flat,  and  as  sharp  backwards  almost  as 
the  edge  of  a  knife,  that  in  striking  they  may  easily  cut  the 
water :  while  the  feet  are  palmated,  and  broad  for  swimming, 
yet  so  folded  up  when  advanced  forward  to  take  a  fresh  stroke, 
as  to  be  full  as  narrow  as  the  shank.  The  two  exterior  toes  of 
the  feet  are  longest ;  the  nails  flat  and  broad,  resembling  the 
human,  which  give  strength  and  increase  the  power  of  swimming. 
The  foot,  when  expanded,  is  not  at  right  angles  to  the  leg  or 
body  of  the  bird :  but  the  exterior  part,  inclining  towards  the 
head,  forms  an  acute  angle  with  the  body ;  the  intention  being 
not  to  give  motion  in  the  line  of  the  legs  themselves,  but  by  the 
combined  impulse  of  both  in  an  intermediate  line,  the  line  of  the 
body. 

Most  people  know,  that  have  observed  at  all,  that  the  swimming 
of  birds  is  nothing  more  than  a  walking  in  the  water,  where  one 
foot  succeeds  the  other  as  on  the  land ;  yet  no  one,  as  far  as  I 
am  aware,  has  remarked  that  diving  fowls,  while  under  water, 
impel  and  row  themselves  forward  by  a  motion  of  their  wings,  as 
well  as  by  the  impulse  of  their  feet :  but  such  is  really  the  case, 
as  any  person  may  easily  be  convinced,  who  will  observe  ducks 
when  hunted  by  dogs  in  a  clear  pond.  Nor  do  I  know  that  any 
one  has  given  a  reason  why  the  wings  of  diving  fowls  are  placed 
so  forward :  doubtless,  not  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  their 
speed  in  flying,  since  that  position  certainly  impedes  it ;  but 
probably  for  the  increase  of  their  motion  under  water,  by  the  use 
of  four  oars  instead  of  two ;  yet  were  the  wings  and  feet  nearer 
together,  as  in  land-birds,  they  would,  when  in  action,  rather 
hinder  than  assist  one  another. 

This  colymbus  was  of  considerable  bulk,  weighing  only  three 
drachms  short  of  three  pounds  avoirdupois.  It  measured  in 
length  from  the  bill  to  the  tail  (which  was  very  short)  two  feet, 
and  to  the  extremities  of  the  toes,  four  inches  more ;  and  the 
breadth  of  the  wings  expanded  was  42  inches.  A  person  at- 
tempted to  eat  the  body,  but  found  it  very  strong  and  rancid,  as 
is  the  flesh  of  all  birds  living  on  fish.  Divers  or  loons,  though 
bred  in  the  most  northerly  parts  of  Europe,  yet  are  seen  with  us 
in  very  severe  winters  ;  and  on  the  Thames  are  called  sprat  loons, 
because  they  prey  much  on  that  sort  of  fish. 

The  legs  of  the  colymbi  and  mergi  are  placed  so  very  backward, 
and  so  out  of  all  center  of  gravity,  that  these  birds  cannot  walk 
at  all.  They  are  called  by  Linnaeus  compedes,  because  they  move 
on  the  ground  as  if  shackled  or  fettered. 


328  OBSERVATIONS  ON 


STONE  CURLEW. 

On  the  27th  of  February  1788,  stone  curlews  were  heard  to 
pipe ;  and  on  March  1st,  after  it  was  dark,  some  were  passing 
over  the  village,  as  might  be  perceived  by  their  quick,  short  note, 
which  they  use  in  their  nocturnal  excursions  by  way  of  watch- 
word, that  they  may  not  stray  and  lose  their  companions. 

Thus,  we  see,  that  retire  whithersoever  they  may  in  the  winter, 
they  return  again  early  in  the  spring,  and  are,  as  it  now  appears, 
the  first  summer  birds  that  come  back.  Perhaps  the  mildness  of 
the  season  may  have  quickened  the  emigration  of  the  curlews 
this  year. 

They  spend  the  day  in  high,  elevated  fields  and  sheep-walks ; 
but  seem  to  descend  in  the  night  to  streams  and  meadows, 
perhaps  for  water,  which  their  upland  haunts  do  not  afford 
them. 


THE  SMALLEST  WILLOW-WREN. 

The  smallest  uncrested  or  willow-wren,  or  chiff-chaff,  is  the  next 
early  summer  bird  which  we  have  remarked ;  it  utters  two  sharp 
piercing  notes,  so  loud  in  hollow  woods,  as  to  occasion  an  echo, 
and  is  usually  first  heard  about  the  20th  of  March. 


FERN-OWL,  OR  GOATSUCKER. 

The  country  people  have  a  notion  that  the  fern-owl,  or  churn- 
owl,  or  eve-jarr,  which  they  also  call  a  puckeridge,  is  very  in- 
jurious to  weanling  calves,  by  inflicting,  as  it  strikes  at  them, 
the  fatal  distemper  known  to  cow-leeches  by  the  name  of  pucke- 
ridge. Thus  does  this  harmless  ill-fated  bird  fall  under  a  double 
imputation  which  it  by  no  means  deserves — in  Italy,  of  sucking 
the  teats  of  goats,  whence  it  is  called  caprimulgus ;  and  with  us, 
of  communicating  a  deadly  disorder  to  cattle.  But  the  truth  of 
the  matter  is,  the  malady  above  mentioned  is  occasioned  by  the 
oestrus  bows,  a  dipterous  insect,  which  lays  its  eggs  along  the 
chines  of  kine,  where  the  maggots,  when  hatched,  eat  their  way 
through  the  hide  of  the  beast  into  the  flesh,  and  grow  to  a  very 
large  size.  I  have  just  talked  with  a  man,  who  says,  he  has  more 
than  once  stripped  calves  who  have  died  of  the  puckeridge  ;  that 


VARIOUS  PARTS  OF  NATURE      329 

the  ail  or  complaint  lay  along  the  chine,  where  the  flesh  was 
much  swelled,  and  filled  with  purulent  matter.  Once  I  myself 
saw  a  large  rough  maggot  of  this  sort  squeezed  out  of  the  back 
of  a  cow. 

These  maggots  in  Essex  are  called  wornils. 

The  least  observation  and  attention  would  convince  men,  that 
these  birds  neither  injure  the  goatherd  nor  the  grazier,  but  are 
perfectly  harmless,  and  subsist  alone,  being  night-birds,  on  night- 
insects,  such  as  scarabcei  and  phalcence ;  and  through  the  month 
of  July  mostly  on  the  scarabceus  solstitialis,  which  in  many 
districts  abounds  at  that  season.  Those  that  we  have  opened, 
have  always  had  their  craws  stuffed  with  large  night-moths  and 
their  eggs,  and  pieces  of  chaffers  :  nor  does  it  anywise  appear  how 
they  can,  weak  and  unarmed  as  they  seem,  inflict  any  harm  upon 
kine,  unless  they  possess  the  powers  of  animal  magnetism,  and 
can  affect  them  by  fluttering  over  them. 

A  fern-owl,  this  evening  (August  27)  showed  off  in  a  very 
unusual  and  entertaining  manner,  by  hawking  round  and  round 
the  circumference  of  my  great  spreading  oak  for  twenty  times 
following,  keeping  mostly  close  to  the  grass,  but  occasionally 
glancing  up  amidst  the  boughs  of  the  tree.  This  amusing  bird 
was  then  in  pursuit  of  a  brood  of  some  particular  phalcena  belong- 
ing to  the  oak,  of  which  there  are  several  sorts  ;  and  exhibited  on 
the  occasion  a  command  of  wing  superior,  I  think,  to  that  of 
the  swallow  itself. 

When  a  person  approaches  the  haunt  of  fern-owls  in  an  evening, 
they  continue  flying  round  the  head  of  the  obtruder;  and  by 
striking  their  wings  together  above  their  backs,  in  the  manner 
that  the  pigeons  called  smiters  are  known  to  do,  make  a  smart 
snap  :  perhaps  at  that  time  they  are  jealous  for  their  young  ;  and 
their  noise  and  gesture  are  intended  by  way  of  menace. 

Fern-owls  have  attachment  to  oaks,  no  doubt  on  account  of 
food  ;  for  the  next  evening  we  saw  one  again  several  times  among 
the  boughs  of  the  same  tree ;  but  it  did  not  skim  round  its  stem 
(  over  the  grass,  as  on  the  evening  before.  In  May  these  birds 
find  the  scaraboeus  melolontlia  on  the  oak ;  and  the  scarabceus  sol- 
stitialis at  midsummer.  These  peculiar  birds  can  only  be  watched 
and  observed  for  two  hours  in  the  twenty-four  :  and  then  in  a 
dubious  twilight  an  hour  after  sun- set  and  an  hour  before  sun 
rise. 

On  this  day  (July  14,  1789)  a  woman  brought  me  two  eggs  of 
a  fern-owl  or  eve-jarr,  which  she  found  on  the  verge  of  the 


330  OBSERVATIONS  ON 

Hanger,  to  the  left  of  the  hermitage,  under  a  beechen  shrub. 
This  person,  who  lives  just  at  the  foot  of  the  Hanger,  seems  well 
acquainted  with  these  nocturnal  swallows,  and  says  she  has  often 
found  their  eggs  near  that  place,  and  that  they  lay  only  two  at  a 
time  on  the  bare  ground.  The  eggs  were  oblong,  dusky,  and 
streaked  somewhat  in  the  manner  of  the  plumage  of  the  parent- 
bird,  and  were  equal  in  size  at  each  end.  The  dam  was  sitting 
on  the  eggs  when  found,  which  contained  the  rudiments  of  young, 
and  would  have  been  hatched  perhaps  in  a  week.  From  hence 
we  may  see  the  time  of  their  breeding,  which  corresponds  pretty 
well  with  that  of  the  swift,  as  does  also  the  period  of  their  arrival. 
Each  species  is  usually  seen  about  the  beginning  of  May.  Each 
breeds  but  once  in  a  summer ;  each  lays  only  two  eggs. 

July  4,  1 790.  The  woman  who  brought  me  two  fern-owl's  eggs 
last  year  on  July  14,  on  this  day  produced  me  two  more,  one  of 
which  had  been  laid  this  morning,  as  appears  plainly,  because 
there  was  only  one  in  the  nest  the  evening  before.  They  were 
found,  as  last  July,  on  the  verge  of  the  down  above  the  hermi- 
tage, under  a  beechen  shrub,  on  the  naked  ground.  Last  year 
those  eggs  were  full  of  young,  and  just  ready  to  be  hatched. 

These  circumstances  point  out  the  exact  time  when  these 
curious,  nocturnal,  migratory  birds  lay  their  eggs  and  hatch  their 
young.  Fern-owls,  like  snipes,  stone-curlews,  and  some  other 
birds,  make  no  nest.  Birds  that  build  on  the  ground  do  not 
make  much  of  nests. 

SAND-MARTINS. 

March  23,  1788.  A  gentleman,  who  was  this  week  on  a  visit 
at  Waverley,  took  the  opportunity  of  examining  some  of  the 
holes  in  the  sand-banks  with  which  that  district  abounds.  As 
these  are  undoubtedly  bored  by  bank-martins,  and  are  the  places 
where  they  avowedly  breed,  he  was  in  hopes  they  might  have 
slept  there  also,  and  that  he  might  have  surprised  them  just  as 
they  were  awaking  from  their  winter  slumbers.  When  he  had 
dug  for  some  time,  he  found  the  holes  were  horizontal  and  ser- 
pentine, as  I  had  observed  before  :  and  that  the  nests  were 
deposited  at  the  inner  end,  and  had  been  occupied  by  broods  in 
former  summers,  but  no  torpid  birds  were  to  be  found.  He 
opened  and  examined  about  a  dozen  holes.  Another  gentleman 
made  the  same  search  many  years  ago,  with  as  little  success. 

These  holes  were  in  depth  about  two  feet. 


VARIOUS  PARTS  OF  NATURE       331 

March  21,  1790.  A  single  bank  or  sand  martin  was  seen 
hovering  and  playing  round  the  sand-pit  at  Short  Heath,  where 
in  the  summer  they  abound. 

April  9,  1793.  A  sober  hind  assures  us,  that  this  day,  on  Wish- 
hanger  common,  between  Hedleigh  and  Frinsham,  he  saw  several 
bank-martins  playing  in  and  out,  and  hanging  before  some  nest 
holes  in  a  sand-hill,  where  these  birds  usually  nestle. 

This  incident  confirms  my  suspicions  that  this  species  of  hirundo 
is  to  be  seen  first  of  any  ;  and  gives  great  reason  to  suppose  that 
they  do  not  leave  their  wild  haunts  at  all,  but  are  secreted  amidst 
the  clefts  and  caverns  of  those  abrupt  cliffs,  where  they  usually 
spend  their  summers. 

The  late  severe  weather  considered,  it  is  not  very  probable  that 
these  birds  should  have  migrated  so  early  from  a  tropical  region, 
through  all  these  cutting  winds  and  pinching  frosts  :  but  it  is 
easy  to  suppose  that  they  may,  like  bats  and  flies,  have  been 
awakened  by  the  influence  of  the  sun,  amidst  their  secret  latebrce, 
where  they  have  spent  the  uncomfortable,  foodless  months  in  a 
torpid  state,  and  the  profoundest  of  slumbers. 

There  is  a  large  pond  at  Wish-hanger,  which  induces  these 
sand-martins  to  frequent  that  district.  For  I  have  ever  remarked 
that  they  haunt  near  great  waters,  either  rivers  or  lakes. 


SWALLOWS,  CONGREGATING  AND  DISAPPEAR- 
ANCE OF. 

During  the  severe  winds  that  often  prevail  late  in  the  spring,  it 
is  not  easy  to  say  how  the  hirundines  subsist :  for  they  withdraw 
themselves,  and  are  hardly  ever  seen,  nor  do  any  insects  appear 
for  their  support.  That  they  can  retire  to  rest,  and  sleep  away 
these  uncomfortable  periods,  as  the  bats  do,  is  a  matter  rather  to  be 
suspected  than  proved :  or  do  they  not  rather  spend  their  time  in 
deep  and  sheltered  vales  near  waters,  where  insects  are  more 
likely  to  be  found  ?  Certain  it  is,  that  hardly  any  individuals  of 
this  genus  have  at  such  times  been  seen  for  several  days  together. 

September  13,  1791.  The  congregating  flocks  of  hirundines 
on  the  church  and  tower  are  very  beautiful  and  amusing  !  When 
they  fly  off  all  together  from  the  roof,  on  any  alarm,  they  quite 
swarm  in  the  air.  But  they  soon  settle  in  heaps,  and  preening  their 
feathers,  and  lifting  up  their  wings  to  admit  the  sun,  seem  highly 
to  enjoy  the  warm  situation.  Thus  they  spend  the  heat  of  the 


332  OBSERVATIONS  ON 

day,  preparing  for  their  emigration,  and,  as  it  were,  consulting 
when  and  where  they  are  to  go.  The  flight  about  the  church 
seems  to  consist  chiefly  of  house-martins,  about  400  in  number : 
but  there  are  other  places  of  rendezvous  about  the  village  fre- 
quented at  the  same  time. 

It  is  remarkable,  that  though  most  of  them  sit  on  the  battle- 
ments and  roof,  yet  many  hang  or  cling  for  some  time  by  their 
claws  against  the  surface  of  the  walls,  in  a  manner  not  practised 
by  them  at  any  other  time  of  their  remaining  with  us. 

The  swallows  seem  to  delight  more  in  holding  their  assemblies 
on  trees. 

November  3,  1789.  Two  swallows  were  seen  this  morning 
at  Newton  vicarage-house,  hovering  and  settling  on  the  roofs 
and  out-buildings.  None  have  been  observed  at  Selborne  since 
October  11.  It  is  very  remarkable,  that  after  the  hirundines 
have  disappeared  for  some  weeks,  a  few  are  occasionally  seen 
again :  sometimes,  in  the  first  week  in  November,  and  that  only 
for  one  day.  Do  they  not  withdraw  and  slumber  in  some  hiding- 
place  during  the  interval  ?  for  we  cannot  suppose  they  had 
migrated  to  warmer  climes,  and  so  returned  again  for  one  day. 
Is  it  not  more  probable  that  they  are  awakened  from  sleep,  and 
like  the  bats  are  come  forth  to  collect  a  little  food  ?  Bats  appear 
at  all  seasons  through  the  autumn  and  spring  months,  when  the 
thermometer  is  at  50,  because  then  phalcence  and  moths  are 
stirring. 

These  swallows  looked  like  young  ones. 


WAGTAILS. 

While  the  cows  are  feeding  in  moist  low  pastures,  broods 
of  wagtails,  white  and  grey,  run  round  them,  close  up  to  their 
noses,  and  under  their  very  bellies,  availing  themselves  of  the 
flies  that  settle  on  their  legs,  and  probably  finding  worms  and  larvce 
that  are  roused  by  the  trampling  of  their  feet.  Nature  is  such 
an  oeconomist,  that  the  most  incongruous  animals  can  avail  them- 
selves of  each  other  !  Interest  makes  strange  friendships. 


WRYNECK. 

These  birds  appear  on  the  grass-plots  and  walks ;  they  walk  a 
little  as  well  as  hop,  and  thrust  their  bills  into  the  turf,  in  quest, 


VAEIOUS  PARTS  OF  NATURE       333 

I  conclude,  of  ants,  which  are  their  food.  While  they  hold  their 
bills  in  the  grass,  they  draw  out  their  prey  with  their  tongues, 
which  are  so  long  as  to  be  coiled  round  their  heads. 


GROSBEAK. 

Mr.  B.  shot  a  cock -grosbeak  which  he  had  observed  to  haunt 
his  garden  for  more  than  a  fortnight.  I  began  to  accuse  this  bird 
of  making  sad  havock  among  the  buds  of  the  cherries,  goose- 
berries, and  wall-fruit  of  all  the  neighbouring  orchards.  Upon 
opening  its  crop  or  craw,  no  buds  were  to  be  seen ;  but  a  mass  of 
kernels  of  the  stones  of  fruits.  Mr.  B.  observed  that  this  bird 
frequented  the  spot  where  plum-trees  grow;  and  that  he  had 
seen  it  with  somewhat  hard  in  its  mouth,  which  it  broke  with 
difficulty ;  these  were  the  stones  of  damsons.  The  latin  orni- 
thologists call  this  bird  coccothraustes,  i.  e.  berry-breaker,  because 
with  its  large  horny  beak  it  cracks  and  breaks  the  shells  of  stone- 
fruits  for  the  sake  of  the  seed  or  kernel.  Birds  of  this  sort  are 
rarely  seen  in  England,  and  only  in  winter.1 


OBSERVATIONS  ON  QUADRUPEDS. 
SHEEP. 

THE  sheep  on  the  downs  this  winter  (1769)  are  very  ragged,  and 
their  coats  much  torn ;  the  shepherds  say  they  tear  their  fleeces 
with  their  own  mouths  and  horns,  and  they  are  always  in  that 
way  in  mild  wet  winters,  being  teased  and  tickled  with  a  kind 
of  lice. 

After  ewes  and  lambs  are  shorn,  there  is  great  confusion  and 
bleating,  neither  the  dams  nor  the  young  being  able  to  distinguish 
one  another  as  before.  This  embarrassment  seems  not  so  much 
to  arise  from  the  loss  of  the  fleece,  which  may  occasion  an  altera- 
tion in  their  appearance,  as  from  the  defect  of  that  notus  odor, 
discriminating  each  individual  personally ;  which  also  is  con- 
founded by  the  strong  scent  of  the  pitch  and  tar  wherewith  they 

1  ["Of  late  years  this  species  has  become  much  commoner  in  England,  nesting 
now  in  many  counties  where  formerly  it  was  chiefly  observed  as  a  winter  visitant." 
— Harting.} 


334  OBSERVATIONS  ON 

are  newly  marked ;  for  the  brute  creation  recognize  each  other 
more  from  the  smell  than  the  sight ;  and  in  matters  of  identity 
and  diversity  appeal  much  more  to  their  noses  than  to  their  eyes. 
After  sheep  have  been  washed  there  is  the  same  confusion,  from 
the  reason  given  above. 


RABBITS. 

Rabbits  make  incomparably  the  finest  turf,  for  they  not  only 
bite  closer  than  larger  quadrupeds,  but  they  allow  no  bents  to 
rise  ;  hence  warrens  produce  much  the  most  delicate  turf  for 
gardens.  Sheep  never  touch  the  stalks  of  grasses. 


CAT  AND  SQUIRRELS. 

A  boy  has  taken  three  little  young  squirrels  in  their  nest,  or 
drey  as  it  is  called  in  these  parts.  These  small  creatures  he  put 
under  the  care  of  a  cat  who  had  lately  lost  her  kittens,  and  finds 
that  she  nurses  and  suckles  them  with  the  same  assiduity  and 
affection,  as  if  they  were  her  own  offspring.  This  circumstance 
corroborates  my  suspicion,  that  the  mention  of  exposed  and 
deserted  children  being  nurtured  by  female  beasts  of  prey  who 
had  lost  their  young,  may  not  be  so  improbable  an  incident  as 
many  have  supposed ;  and  therefore  may  be  a  justification  of 
those  authors  who  have  gravely  mentioned,  what  some  have 
deemed  to  be  a  wild  and  improbable  story. 

So  many  people  went  to  see  the  little  squirrels  suckled  by  a  cat, 
that  the  foster-mother  became  jealous  of  her  charge,  and  in  pain 
for  their  safety ;  and  therefore  hid  them  over  the  ceiling,  where 
one  died.  This  circumstance  shews  her  affection  for  these  found- 
lings, and  that  she  supposes  the  squirrels  to  be  her  own  young. 
Thus  hens,  when  they  have  hatched  ducklings,  are  equally 
attached  to  them  as  if  they  were  their  own  chickens. 


HORSE. 

An  old  hunting  mare,  which  ran  on  the  common,  being  taken 
very  ill,  ran  down  into  the  village,  as  it  were  to  implore  the  help 
of  men,  and  died  the  night  following  in  the  street. 


VAEIOUS  PARTS  OF  NATURE       335 


HOUNDS. 

The  king's  stag-hounds  came  down  to  Alton,  attended  by  a 
huntsman  and  six  yeoman  prickers,  with  horns,  to  try  for  the 
stag  that  has  haunted  Hartley  Wood  and  its  environs  for  so  long 
a  time.  Many  hundreds  of  people,  horse  and  foot,  attended  the 
dogs  to  see  the  deer  unharboured  ;  but  though  the  huntsmen  drew 
Hartley  Wood,  and  Long  Coppice,  and  Shrubwood,  and  Temple 
Hangers,  and  in  their  way  back  Hartley  and  Ward  le  ham  Hangers, 
yet  no  stag  could  be  found. 

The  royal  pack,  accustomed  to  have  the  deer  turned  out  before 
them,  never  drew  the  coverts  with  any  address  and  spirit,  as 
many  people  that  were  present  observed ;  and  this  remark  the 
event  has  proved  to  be  a  true  one.  For  as  a  person  was  lately 
pursuing  a  pheasant  that  was  wing-broken  in  Hartley  Wood,  he 
stumbled  upon  the  stag  by  accident,  and  ran  in  upon  him  as  he 
lay  concealed  amidst  a  thick  brake  of  brambles  and  bushes. 


OBSERVATIONS  ON  INSECTS  AND  VERMES. 
INSECTS  IN  GENERAL. 

THE  day  and  night  insects  occupy  the  annuals  alternately :  the 
papilios,  musccE,  and  apes,  are  succeeded  at  the  close  of  day  by 
phal<Ena>,  earwigs,  woodlice,  &c.  In  the  dusk  of  the  evening, 
when  beetles  begin  to  buz,  partridges  begin  to  call ;  these  two 
circumstances  are  exactly  coincident. 

Ivy  is  the  last  flower  that  supports  the  hymenopterous  and 
dipterous  insects.  On  sunny  days  quite  on  to  November  they 
swarm  on  trees  covered  with  this  plant ;  and  when  they  disappear, 
probably  retire  under  the  shelter  of  its  leaves,  concealing  them- 
selves between  its  fibres  and  the  trees  which  it  entwines. 

Spiders,  woodlice,  lepismce  in  cupboards  and  among  sugar,  some 
empedes,  gnats,  flies  of  several  species,  some  phal&nce  in  hedges, 
earth-worms,  &c.  are  stirring  at  all  times  when  winters  are  mild ; 
and  are  of  great  service  to  those  soft-billed  birds  that  never  leave 
us. 

On  every  sunny  day  the  winter  through,  clouds  of  insects 
usually  called  gnats  (I  suppose  tipulce  and  empedes}  appear 
sporting  and  dancing  over  the  tops  of  the  ever-green  trees  in 


336  OBSERVATIONS  ON 

the  shrubbery,  and  frisking  about  as  if  the  business  of  generation 
was  still  going  on.  Hence  it  appears  that  these  diptera  (which 
by  their  sizes  appear  to  be  of  different  species)  are  not  subject  to 
a  torpid  state  in  the  winter,  as  most  winged  insects  are.  At 
night,  and  in  frosty  weather,  and  when  it  rains  and  blows,  they 
seem  to  retire  into  those  trees.  They  often  are  out  in  a  fog. 


HUMMING  IN  THE  AIR. 

There  is  a  natural  occurrence  to  be  met  with  upon  the  highest 
part  of  our  down  in  hot  summer  days,  which  always  amuses  me 
much,  without  giving  me  any  satisfaction  with  respect  to  the 
cause  of  it ;  and  that  is  a  loud  audible  humming  of  bees  in  the 
air,  though  not  one  insect  is  to  be  seen.  This  sound  is  to  be 
heard  distinctly  the  whole  common  through,  from  the  Money- 
dells,  to  Mr.  White's  avenue-gate.  Any  person  would  suppose 
that  a  large  swarm  of  bees  was  in  motion,  and  playing  about  over 
his  head.  This  noise  was  heard  last  week,  on  June  28th. 

'  Resounds  the  living  surface  of  the  ground, 
'  Nor  undelightful  is  the  ceaseless  hum 

'  To  him  who  muses at  noon." 

1  Thick  in  yon  stream  of  light  a  thousand  ways, 

'{Upward  and  downward,  thwarting  and  convolv'd, 

'  The  quivering  nations  sport."  THOMSON'S  SEASONS. 

CHAFFERS. 

Cockchaffers  seldom  abound  oftener  than  once  in  three  or  four 
years ;  when  they  swarm,  they  deface  the  trees  and  hedges. 
Whole  woods  of  oaks  are  stripped  bare  by  them. 

Chaffers  are  eaten  by  the  turkey,  the  rook,  and  the  house- 
sparrow. 

The  scarabceus  [Rhizotrogus]  solsiitialis  first  appears  about  June 
26  :  they  are  very  punctual  in  their  coming  out  every  year.  They 
are  a  small  species,  about  half  the  size  of  the  May-chaffer,  and  are 
known  in  some  parts  by  the  name  of  the  fern-chaffer. 


PTINUS  PECTINICORNIS. 

Those  maggots  that  make  worm-holes  in  tables,  chairs,  bed- 
posts, &c.  and  destroy  wooden  furniture,  especially  where  there  is 


VARIOUS  PARTS  OF  NATURE       337 

any  sap,  are  the  larvae  of  the  ptinus  pectinicornis.  This  insect,  it  is 
probable,  deposits  its  eggs  on  the  surface,  and  the  worms  eat 
their  way  in. 

In  their  holes  they  turn  into  their  pupae  state,  and  so  come 
forth  winged  in  July  :  eating  their  way  through  the  valances  or 
curtains  of  a  bed,  or  any  other  furniture  that  happens  to  obstruct 
their  passage. 

They  seem  to  be  most  inclined  to  breed  in  beech ;  hence 
beech  will  not  make  lasting  utensils,  or  furniture.  If  their  eggs 
are  deposited  on  the  surface,  frequent  rubbings  will  preserve 
wooden  furniture.1 


BLATTA  ORIENTALIS.— COCKROACH. 

A  neighbour  complained  to  me  that  her  house  was  over-run 
with  a  kind  of  black  beetle,  or  as  she  expressed  herself,  with  a 
kind  of  black-bob,  which  swarmed  in  her  kitchen  when  they  got 
up  in  a  morning  before  day-break. 

Soon  after  this  account,  I  observed  an  unusual  insect  in  one 
of  my  dark  chimney-closets,  and  find  since,  that  in  the  night  they 
swarm  also  in  my  kitchen.  On  examination,  I  soon  ascertained 
the  species  to  be  the  blatta  orientalis  of  Linnaeus,  and  the  blatta 
molendinaria  of  Mouffet.  The  male  is  winged ;  the  female  is  not, 
but  shows  somewhat  like  the  rudiments  of  wings,  as  if  in  the 
pupa  state. 

These  insects  belonged  originally  to  the  warmer  parts  of 
America,  and  were  conveyed  from  thence  by  shipping  to  the 
East  Indies ;  and  by  means  of  commerce  begin  to  prevail  in  the 
more  northern  parts  of  Europe,  as  Russia,  Sweden,  &c.  How 
long  they  have  abounded  in  England  I  cannot  say ;  but  have 
never  observed  them  in  my  house  till  lately. 

They  love  warmth,  and  haunt  chimney-closets,  and  the  backs 
of  ovens.  Poda  says  that  these  and  house-crickets  will  not 
associate  together;  but  he  is  mistaken  in  that  assertion,  as 
Linnaeus  suspected  he  was.  They  are  altogether  night  insects, 
lucifugce,  never  coming  forth  till  the  rooms  are  dark  and  still,  and 

1  [Our  commonest  wood-boring  larvae  are  Xestobium  tesselatum,  F.,  suidAnodium 
domesticum,  Fourc. ,  the  death-watches  of  superstition.  Ptinus  (Ptilinus)  pectini- 
cornis is  found  chiefly  in  old  trees  and  posts,  but  also  in  old  furniture  as  White 
says.  The  mischief  is  done  by  the  larvae  ;  the  perfect  insect  only  lives  for  a  short 
time.  A  closely  allied  beetle  (Anobium  paniceum)  is  the  "  weevil "  which  devours 
biscuits  on  shipboard.] 

22 


338  OBSERVATIONS  ON 

escaping  away  nimbly  at  the  approach  of  a  candle.  Their  antennae 
are  remarkably  long,  slender,  and  flexile. 

October,  1 790.  After  the  servants  are  gone  to  bed,  the  kitchen- 
hearth  swarms  with  young  crickets,  and  young  blattce  molendinarice 
of  all  sizes,  from  the  most  minute  growth  to  their  full  proportions. 
They  seem  to  live  in  a  friendly  manner  together,  and  not  to  prey 
the  one  on  the  other. 

August,  1792.  After  the  destruction  of  many  thousands  of 
blattce  molendinarice,  we  find  that  at  intervals  a  fresh  detachment 
of  old  ones  arrives,  and  particularly  during  this  hot  season :  for 
the  windows  being  left  open  in  the  evenings,  the  males  come 
flying  in  at  the  casements  from  the  neighbouring  houses,  which 
swarm  with  them.  How  the  females,  that  seem  to  have  no 
perfect  wings  that  they  can  use,  can  contrive  to  get  from  house 
to  house,  does  not  so  readily  appear.  These,  like  many  insects, 
when  they  find  their  present  abodes  over-stocked,  have  powers  of 
migrating  to  fresh  quarters.  Since  the  blattce  have  been  so  much 
kept  under,  the  crickets  have  greatly  increased  in  number.1 


GRYLLUS  DOMESTICUS.— HOUSE  CRICKET. 

November.  After  the  servants  are  gone  to  bed,  the  kitchen- 
hearth  swarms  with  minute  crickets  not  so  large  as  fleas,  which 
must  have  been  lately  hatched.  So  that  these  domestic  insects, 
cherished  by  the  influence  of  a  constant  large  fire,  regard  not  the 
season  of  the  year,  but  produce  their  young  at  a  time  when  their 
congeners  are  either  dead,  or  laid  up  for  the  winter,  to  pass  away 
the  uncomfortable  months  in  the  profoundest  slumbers,  and  a  state 
of  torpidity. 

When  house-crickets  are  out,  and  running  about  in  a  room  in 
the  night,  if  surprised  by  a  candle,  they  give  two  or  three  shrill 
notes,  as  it  were  for  a  signal  to  their  fellows,  that  they  may  escape 
to  their  crannies  and  lurking  holes,  to  avoid  danger. 

1  [It  is  to  be  noticed  that  the  cockroach  was  an  unfamiliar  insect  in  English 
villages  a  little  more  than  a  hundred  years  ago.  White's  mistaken  belief  that 
Blatta  (Periplaneta)  orientalis  is  native  to  America  was  derived  from  Linnaeus 
("  Habitat  in  America :  hospitatur  in  Oriente." — Syst.  Nat.).'] 


VARIOUS  PARTS  OF  NATURE       339 

CIMEX  [RANATRA]  LINEARIS. 

August  12,  1775.  Cimices  lineares  are  now  in  high  copulation 
on  ponds  and  pools.  The  females,  who  vastly  exceed  the  males 
in  bulk,  dart  and  shoot  along  on  the  surface  of  the  water  with  the 
males  on  their  backs.  When  a  female  chooses  to  be  disengaged, 
she  rears,  and  jumps,  and  plunges,  like  an  unruly  colt ;  the  lover 
thus  dismounted,  soon  finds  a  new  mate.  The  females,  as  fast  as 
their  curiosities  are  satisfied,  retire  to  another  part  of  the  lake, 
perhaps  to  deposit  their  foetus  in  quiet ;  hence  the  sexes  are  found 
separate,  except  where  generation  is  going  on.  From  the  multi- 
tude of  minute  young  of  all  gradations  of  sizes,  these  insects  seem 
without  doubt  to  be  viviparous. 


PHALJENA  QUERCUS. 

Most  of  our  oaks  are  naked  of  leaves,  and  even  the  Holt  in 
general,  having  been  ravaged  by  the  caterpillars  of  a  small  phalcena, 
which  is  of  a  pale  yellow  colour.  These  insects,  though  a  feeble 
race,  yet,  from  their  infinite  numbers,  are  of  wonderful  effect,  being 
able  to  destroy  the  foliage  of  whole  forests  and  districts.  At  this 
season  they  leave  their  aurelice,  and  issue  forth  in  their  fly-state, 
swarming  and  covering  the  trees  and  hedges. 

In  a  field  at  Greatham,  I  saw  a  flight  of  swifts  busied  in  catch- 
ing their  prey  near  the  ground  ;  and  found  they  were  hawking  after 
these  phaloence.  The  aurelia  of  this  moth  is  shining  and  as  black 
as  jet ;  and  lies  wrapped  up  in  a  leaf  of  the  tree,  which  is  rolled 
round  it,  and  secured  at  the  ends  by  a  web,  to  prevent  the  maggot 
from  falling  out.1 


EPHEMERA  CAUDA  BISETA.— MAY  FLY. 

June  10,  1771.  Myriads  of  May  flies  appear  for  the  first  time 
on  the  Alresford  stream.  The  air  was  crowded  with  them,  and 
the  surface  of  the  water  covered.  Large  trouts  sucked  them  in 
as  they  lay  struggling  on  the  surface  of  the  stream,  unable  to  rise 
till  their  wings  were  dried. 

1  [This  is  the  Tortrix  of  the  oak  ( Toririx  viridana).  Reaumur  has  described  in 
interesting  detail  the  method  by  which  the  larva  forms  its  shelter  (Hist,  des  Insectes, 
torn,  ii,  Me"m.  v).] 


340  OBSERVATIONS  ON 

This  appearance  reconciled  me  in  some  measure  to  the  wonder- 
ful account  that  Scopoli  gives  of  the  quantities  emerging  from  the 
rivers  of  Carniola.  Their  motions  are  very  peculiar,  up  and  down 
for  many  yards  almost  in  a  perpendicular  line. 


SPHYNX  OCELLATA.1 

A  vast  insect  appears  after  it  is  dusk,  flying  with  a  humming 
noise,  and  inserting  its  tongue  into  the  bloom  of  the  honeysuckle  ; 
it  scarcely  settles  upon  the  plants,  but  feeds  on  the  wing  in  the 
manner  of  humming  birds. 


WILD  BEE. 

There  is  a  sort  of  wild  bee  frequenting  the  garden-campion  for 
the  sake  of  its  tomentum,  which  probably  it  turns  to  some  purpose 
in  the  business  of  nidification.  It  is  very  pleasant  to  see  with 
what  address  it  strips  off  the  pubes,  running  from  the  top  to  the 
bottom  of  a  branch,  and  shaving  it  bare  with  all  the  dexterity  of 
a  hoop-shaver.  When  it  has  got  a  vast  bundle,  almost  as  large  as 
itself,  it  flies  away,  holding  it  secure  between  its  chin  and  its  fore 
legs.2 

There  is  a  remarkable  hill  on  the  downs  near  Lewes  in  Sussex, 
known  by  the  name  of  Mount  Carburn  [Caburn],  which  over- 
looks that  town,  and  affords  a  most  engaging  prospect  of  all  the 
country  round,  besides  several  views  of  the  sea.  On  the  very 
summit  of  this  exalted  promontory,  and  amidst  the  trenches  of  its 
Danish  camp,  there  haunts  a  species  of  wild  bee,  [Anthophora 
acervorum,]  making  its  nest  in  the  chalky  soil.  When  people  ap- 
proach the  place,  these  insects  begin  to  be  alarmed,  and,  with  a 
sharp  and  hostile  sound,  dash  and  strike  round  the  heads  and  faces 
of  intruders.  I  have  often  been  interrupted  myself  while  con- 
templating the  grandeur  of  the  scenery  around  me,  and  have 
thought  myself  in  danger  of  being  stung. 

1  [The  eyed  hawk-moth  (Smerinthus  ocellat-us,  L.).     The  habits  of  the  moth 
described  by  White  are  those  of  the  humming-bird  hawk-moth   (Macroglossa 
stellatarum,  L.).] 

2  {Anthidium  manicatum,  the  Carder  bee.     This  bee  lines  its  nest  with  the  down. 
Fabre  gives  an  account  of  the  habits  of  several  French  species  of  Anthidium  in  his 
Souvenirs  Entomologiques,  torn,  iv.,  p.  119.] 


VARIOUS  PARTS  OF  NATURE       341 


WASPS. 

Wasps  abound  in  woody  wild  districts  far  from  neighbourhoods  ; 
they  feed  on  flowers,  and  catch  flies  and  caterpillars  to  carry  to 
their  young.  Wasps  make  their  nests  with  the  raspings  of  sound 
timber ;  hornets,  with  what  they  gnaw  from  decayed :  these  par- 
ticles of  wood  are  kneaded  up  with  a  mixture  of  saliva  from  their 
bodies,  and  moulded  into  combs. 

When  there  is  no  fruit  in  the  gardens,  wasps  eat  flies,  and  suck 
the  honey  from  flowers,  from  ivy  blossoms,  and  umbellated  plants  : 
they  carry  off  also  flesh  from  butchers'  shambles. 


(ESTRUS  CURVICAUDA.1 

This  insect  lays  its  nits  or  eggs  on  horses'  legs,  flanks,  &c.  each 
on  a  single  hair.  The  maggots  when  hatched  do  not  enter  the 
horses'  skins,  but  fall  to  the  ground.  It  seems  to  abound  most  in 
moist,  moorish  places,  though  sometimes  seen  in  the  uplands. 


NOSE  FLY.2 

About  the  beginning  of  July,  a  species  of  fly  (mused)  obtains, 
which  proves  very  tormenting  to  horses,  trying  still  to  enter  their 
nostrils  and  ears,  and  actually  laying  their  eggs  in  the  latter  of 
those  organs,  or  perhaps  in  both.  When  these  abound,  horses  in 
woodland  districts  become  very  impatient  at  their  work,  con- 
tinually tossing  their  heads,  and  rubbing  their  noses  on  each  other, 
regardless  of  the  driver,  so  that  accidents  often  ensue.  In  the 
heat  of  the  day,  men  are  often  obliged  to  desist  from  ploughing. 
Saddle-horses  are  also  very  troublesome  at  such  seasons.  Country 
people  call  this  insect  the  nose  fly. 

ICHNEUMON  FLY. 

I  saw  lately  a  small  ichneumon  fly  attack  a  spider  much  larger 
than  itself  on  a  grass  walk.  When  the  spider  made  any  resistance, 

1  [The  Gastrophilus  egui  of  modern  authors.    The  maggots  do  not,  when  hatched, 
I     fall  to  the  ground,  but  enter  the  stomach  of  the  horse,  where  they  bury  themselves 
|    in  the^mucous  lining.]    -«- 

2  \Gastropkilus  nasalis,  L.] 


342  OBSERVATIONS  ON 

the  ichneumon  applied  her  tail  to  him,  and  stung  him  with  great 
vehemence,  so  that  he  soon  became  dead  and  motionless.  The 
ichneumon  then  running  backward  drew  her  prey  very  nimbly 
over  the  walk  into  the  standing  grass.  This  spider  would  be  de- 
posited in  some  hole  where  the  ichneumon  would  lay  some  eggs  ; 
and  as  soon  as  the  eggs  were  hatched,  the  carcase  would  afford 
ready  food  for  the  maggots. 

Perhaps  some  eggs  might  be  injected  into  the  body  of  the 
spider,  in  the  act  of  stinging.  Some  ichneumons  deposit  their 
eggs  in  the  aurelia  of  moths  and  butterflies. 

BOMBYLIUS  MEDIUS. 

The  bombylius  medius  is  much  about  in  March  and  the  beginning 
of  April,  and  soon  seems  to  retire.  It  is  an  hairy  insect,  like  an 
humble-bee,  but  with  only  two  wings,  and  a  long  straight  beak, 
with  which  it  sucks  the  early  flowers.  The  female  seems  to  lay 
its  eggs  as  it  poises  on  its  wings,  by  striking  its  tail  on  the  ground, 
and  against  the  grass  that  stands  in  its  way,  in  a  quick  manner, 
for  several  times  together. 

MUSCLE.— FLIES. 

In  the  decline  of  the  year,  when  the  mornings  and  evenings  be- 
come chilly,  many  species  of  flies  (muscce)  retire  into  houses,  and 
swarm  in  the  windows. 

At  first  they  are  very  brisk  and  alert ;  but  as  they  grow  more 
torpid,  one  cannot  help  observing  that  they  move  with  difficulty, 
and  are  scarce  able  to  lift  their  legs,  which  seem  as  if  glued  to 
the  glass  ;  and  by  degrees  many  do  actually  stick  on  till  they  die 
in  the  place. 

It  has  been  observed  that  divers  flies,  besides  their  sharp  hooked 
nails,  have  also  skinny  palms,  or  flaps  to  their  feet,  whereby  they 
are  enabled  to  stick  on  glass  and  other  smooth  bodies,  and  to 
walk  on  ceilings  with  their  backs  downward,  by  means  of  the 
pressure  of  the  atmosphere  on  those  flaps ;  the  weight  of  which 
they  easily  overcome  in  warm  weather  when  they  are  brisk  and 
alert.  But  in  the  decline  of  the  year,  this  resistance  becomes  too 
mighty  for  their  diminished  strength ;  and  we  see  flies  labouring 
along,  and  lugging  their  feet  in  windows  as  if  they  stuck  fast  to 
the  glass,  and  it  is  with  the  utmost  difficulty  they  can  draw  one 


VARIOUS  PAETS  OF  NATUEE       343 

foot  after  another,   and  disengage  their  hollow  caps  from  the 
slippery  surface.1 

Upon  the  same  principle  that  flies  stick  and  support  themselves, 
do  boys,  by  way  of  play,  carry  heavy  weights  by  only  a  piece  of 
wet  leather  at  the  end  of  a  string  clapped  close  on  the  surface  of 
a  stone. 


TIPUL.E,  OR  EMPEDES. 

May.2  Millions  of  empedes,  or  tipulce,  come  forth  at  the  close  of 
day,  and  swarm  to  such  a  degree  as  to  fill  the  air.  At  this  junc- 
ture they  sport  and  copulate ;  as  it  grows  more  dark  they  retire. 
All  day  they  hide  in  the  hedges.  As  they  rise  in  a  cloud  they 
appear  like  smoke. 

I  do  not  ever  remember  to  have  seen  such  swarms,  except 
in  the  fens  of  the  Isle  of  Ely.  They  appear  most  over  grass 
grounds. 


APHIDES.3 

On  the  1st  of  August,  about  half  an  hour  after  three  in  the 
afternoon,  the  people  of  Selborne  were  surprized  by  a  shower  of 
Aphides  which  fell  in  these  parts.  They  who  were  walking  the 
streets  at  that  time  found  themselves  covered  with  these  insects, 
which  settled  also  on  the  trees  and  gardens,  and  blackened  all 
the  vegetables  where  they  alighted.  These  armies,  no  doubt, 
were  then  in  a  state  of  emigration,  and  shifting  their  quarters ; 
and  might  perhaps  come  from  the  great  hop-plantations  of  Kent 
or  Sussex,  the  wind  being  that  day  at  North.  They  were 
observed  at  the  same  time  at  Farnham,  and  all  along  the  vale  to 
Alton. 

1  [The  walking  of  flies  on  smooth  surfaces,  either  vertical  or  looking  downwards, 
has  now  been  shown  to  depend  upon  a  sticky  fluid  exuded  from  the  glandular  hairs 
of  the  feet.     The  hairs  have  been  seen  to  be  tipped  with  drops ;  the  drops  have 
been  drawn  out  into  transparent  threads,  or  left  upon  slips  of  glass  over  which  the 
fly  had  walked.    See  Blackwall,  Trans.  Linn.  Soc.,  xvi. ,  pp.  487-492,  767-770  (1831) ; 
and  Dewitz,  Pfliiger 's  Arch.,  xxxiii.,  pp.  440-481  (1884).] 

2  [This  word  is  not  found  in  the  original  (ed.  1795).] 

3  [This  extract  is  not  found  in  the  original  (ed.  1795).] 


344  OBSERVATIONS  ON 


ANTS. 

August  23.  Every  ant-hill  about  this  time  is  in  a  strange 
hurry  and  confusion ;  and  all  the  winged  ants,  agitated  by  some 
violent  impulse,  are  leaving  their  homes,  and,  bent  on  emigration, 
swarm  by  myriads  in  the  air,  to  the  great  emolument  of  the 
hirundines,  which  fare  luxuriously.  Those  that  escape  the  swal- 
lows return  no  more  to  their  nests,  but  looking  out  for  fresh 
settlements,  lay  a  foundation  for  future  colonies.  All  the  females 
at  this  time  are  pregnant :  the  males  that  escape  being  eaten, 
wander  away  and  die. 

October  2.  Flying  ants,  male  and  female,  usually  swarm  and 
migrate  on  hot  sunny  days  in  August  and  September ;  but  this 
day  a  vast  emigration  took  place  in  my  garden,  and  myriads  came 
forth,  in  appearance  from  the  drain  which  goes  under  the  fruit- 
wall  ;  filling  the  air  and  the  adjoining  trees  and  shrubs  with  their 
numbers.  The  females  were  full  of  eggs.  This  late  swarming  is 
probably  owing  to  the  backward,  wet  season.  The  day  following, 
not  one  flying  ant  was  to  be  seen.1 

Horse-ants  travel  home  to  their  nests  laden  with  flies,  which 
they  have  caught,  and  the  aurelise  of  smaller  ants,  which  they 
seize  by  violence. 


GLOW-WORMS.2 

By  observing  two  glow-worms  which  were  brought  from  the 
field  to  the  bank  in  the  garden,  it  appeared  to  us,  that  these  little 
creatures  put  out  their  lamps  between  eleven  and  twelve,  and 
shine  no  more  for  the  rest  of  the  night. 

Male  glow-worms,  attracted  by  the  light  of  the  candles,  come 
into  the  parlour. 


EARTH-WORMS. 

Earth-worms  make  their  casts  most  in  mild  weather  about 
March  and  April ;  they  do  not  lie  torpid  in  winter,  but  come 
forth  when  there  is  no  frost ;  they  travel  about  in  rainy  nights,  as 

1  [White  does  not  mention  that  the  winged  ants  pluck  off  their  wings  with  their 
own  jaws,  and  then  proceed  to  form  new  colonies.] 

2  [See  note  to  p.^57-] 


VARIOUS  PAKTS  OF  NATURE       345 

appears  from  their  sinuous  tracks  on  the  soft  muddy  soil,  perhaps 
in  search  of  food. 

When  earth-worms  lie  out  a-nights  on  the  turf,  though  they 
extend  their  bodies  a  great  way,  they  do  not  quite  leave  their 
holes,  but  keep  the  ends  of  their  tails  fixed  therein,  so  that  on 
the  least  alarm  they  can  retire  with  precipitation  under  the 
earth.  Whatever  food  falls  within  their  reach  when  thus  ex- 
tended, they  seem  to  be  content  with,  such  as  blades  of  grass, 
straws,  fallen  leaves,  the  ends  of  which  they  often  draw  into 
their  holes ;  even  in  copulation  their  hinder  parts  never  quit 
their  holes ;  so  that  no  two,  except  they  lie  within  reach  of 
each  other's  bodies,  can  have  any  commerce  of  that  kind ;  but 
as  every  individual  is  an  hermaphrodite,  there  is  no  difficulty  in 
meeting  with  a  mate,  as  would  be  the  case  were  they  of  different 
sexes.1 

SNAILS  AND  SLUGS. 

The  shell-less  snails  called  slugs  are  in  motion  all  the  winter 
in  mild  weather,  and  commit  great  depredations  on  garden 
plants,  and  much  inj  ure  the  green  wheat,  the  loss  of  which  is 
imputed  to  earth-worms ;  while  the  shelled  snail,  the  <£epeoi/cos, 
does  not  come  forth  at  all  till  about  April  1  Oth,  and  not  only  lays 
itself  up  pretty  early  in  autumn,  in  places  secure  from  frost,  but 
also  throws  out  round  the  mouth  of  its  shell  a  thick  operculum 
formed  from  its  own  saliva ;  so  that  it  is  perfectly  secured,  and 
corked  up  as  it  were,  from  all  inclemencies.  The  cause  why  the 
slugs  are  able  to  endure  the  cold  so  much  better  than  shell-snails 
is,  that  their  bodies  are  covered  with  slime  as  whales  are  with 
blubber. 

Snails  copulate  about  Midsummer ;  and  soon  after  deposit  their 
eggs  in  the  mould  by  running  their  heads  and  bodies  under 
ground.  Hence  the  way  to  be  rid  of  them  is  to  kill  as  many  as 
possible  before  they  begin  to  breed. 

Large,  grey,  shell-less  cellar  snails  lay  themselves  up  about  the 
same  time  with  those  that  live  abroad ;  hence  it  is  plain  that 
a  defect  of  warmth  is  not  the  only  cause  that  influences  their 
retreat. 

1  [Sessile  or  slow-moving  animals  are  often  hermaphrodite,  e.g.,  cirripeds,  tuni- 
cates,  polyzoa,  oyster,  land-snails ;  so  are  internal  parasites,  like  tape-worms  and 
flukes.  White's  explanation  of  the  hermaphrodite  condition  of  earth-worms  accords 
with  modern  knowledge.;] 


346  OBSERVATIONS  ON 


SNAKE'S  SLOUGH. 

There  the  snake  throws  her  enamelled  skin. 

Shakspeare,  Mids.  Nighfs  Dream. 

About  the  middle  of  this  month  (September)  we  found  in  a 
field  near  a  hedge  the  slough  of  a  large  snake,  which  seemed  to 
have  been  newly  cast.  From  circumstances  it  appeared  as  if 
turned  wrong  side  outward,  and  as  drawn  off  backward,  like  a 
stocking  or  woman's  glove.  Not  only  the  whole  skin,  but  scales 
from  the  very  eyes,  are  peeled  off,  and  appear  in  the  head  of  the 
slough  like  a  pair  of  spectacles.  The  reptile,  at  the  time  of 
changing  his  coat,  had  entangled  himself  intricately  in  the  grass 
and  weeds,  so  that  the  friction  of  the  stalks  and  blades  might 
promote  this  curious  shifting  of  his  exuviae. 


< « Lubrica  serpens 

"  Exuit  in  spinis  vestem."    Lucret. 

It  would  be  a  most  entertaining  sight  could  a  person  be  an 
eye-witness  to  such  a  feat,  and  see  the  snake  in  the  act  of 
changing  his  garment.  As  the  convexity  of  the  scales  of  the  eyes 
in  the  slough  is  now  inward,  that  circumstance  alone  is  a  proof  that 
the  skin  has  been  turned  :  not  to  mention  that  now  the  present 
inside  is  much  darker  than  the  outer.  If  you  look  through  the 
scales  of  the  snake's  eyes  from  the  concave  side,  viz.  as  the  reptile 
used  them,  they  lessen  objects  much.  Thus  it  appears  from 
what  has  been  said,  that  snakes  crawl  out  of  the  mouth  of  their 
own  sloughs,  and  quit  the  tail  part  last,  just  as  eels  are  skinned 
by  a  cook-maid.  While  the  scales  of  the  eyes  are  growing  loose, 
and  a  new  skin  is  forming,  the  creature,  in  appearance,  must  be 
blind,  and  feel  itself  in  an  awkward  uneasy  situation. 


OBSERVATIONS  ON  VEGETABLES. 
TREES,  ORDER  OF  LOSING  THEIR  LEAVES. 

ONE  of  the  first  trees  that  becomes  naked  is  the  walnut ;  the 
mulberry,  the  ash,  especially  if  it  bears  many  keys,  and  the 
horse-chestnut  come  next.  All  lopped  trees,  while  their  heads 
are  young,  carry  their  leaves  a  long  while.  Apple-trees  and 


VARIOUS  PARTS  OF  NATURE       347 

peaches  remain  green  till  very  late,  often  till  the  end  of  November  : 
young  beeches  never  cast  their  leaves  till  spring,  till  the  new 
leaves  sprout  and  push  them  off:  in  the  autumn  the  beechen- 
1  eaves  turn  of  a  deep  chestnut  colour.  Tall  beeches  cast  their 
leaves  about  the  end  of  October. 


SIZE  AND  GROWTH. 

Mr.  Marsham  of  Stratton,  near  Norwich,  informs  me  by  letter 
thus  : l  "  I  became  a  planter  early  ;  so  that  an  oak  which  I  planted 
in  1720  is  become  now,  at  1  foot  from  the  earth,  12  feet  6  inches 
in  circumference,  and  at  14  feet  (the  half  of  the  timber-length) 
is  8  feet  2  inches.  So  if  the  bark  was  to  be  measured  as  timber, 
the  tree  gives  116|  feet,  buyer's  measure.  Perhaps  you  never 
heard  of  a  larger  oak  while  the  planter  was  living.  I  natter 
myself  that  I  increased  the  growth  by  washing  the  stem,  and 
digging  a  circle  as  far  as  I  supposed  the  roots  to  extend,  and  by 
spreading  sawdust,  &c.  as  related  in  the  Phil.  Trans.  I  wish  I 
had  begun  with  beeches  (my  favourite  trees  as  well  as  yours),  I 
might  then  have  seen  very  large  trees  of  my  own  raising.  But 
I  did  not  begin  with  beech  till  174-1,  and  then  by  seed ;  so  that 
my  largest  is  now  at  five  feet  from  the  ground,  6  feet  3  inches  in 
girth,  and  with  its  head  spreads  a  circle  of  20  yards  diameter. 
This  tree  was  also  dug  round,  washed,  £c."  Stratton,  24  July, 
1790. 

The  circumference  of  trees  planted  by  myself  at  1  foot  from 
the  ground  (1790). 

feet,  inches. 

Oak  in  1730  -----  4  5 

Ash  1730  -----  4  6J 

Great  fir  1751  -     -     -     -     -  5  0 

Greatest  beech  175]  -----  4  0 

Elm  1750  -----  5  3 

Lime  1756  -----  5  5 

The  great  oak  in  the  Holt,  which  is  deemed  by  Mr.  Marsham 
to  be  the  biggest  in  this  island,  at  7  feet  from  the  ground, 
measures  in  circumference  34  feet.  It  has  in  old  times  lost 

1  [It  will  be  seen,  on  comparing  this  passage  with  the  original  in  the  first  letter 
in  the  "  Marsham  and  White  correspondence,"  that  it  is  very  incorrectly  quoted. 
— Bell.} 


348  OBSERVATIONS  ON 

several  of  its  boughs,  and  is  tending  to  decay.  Mr.  Marsham 
computes,  that  at  14  feet  length  this  oak  contains  1000  feet 
of  timber. 

It  has  been  the  received  opinion  that  trees  grow  in  height 
only  by  their  annual  upper  shoot.  But  my  neighbour  over  the 
way,  whose  occupation  confines  him  to  one  spot,  assures  me  that 
trees  are  expanded  and  raised  in  the  lower  parts  also.  The 
reason  that  he  gives  is  this :  the  point  of  one  of  my  firs  began 
for  the  first  time  to  peep  over  an  opposite  roof  at  the  beginning 
of  summer ;  but  before  the  growing  season  was  over,  the  whole 
shoot  of  the  year,  and  three  or  four  joints  of  the  body  beside, 
became  visible  to  him  as  he  sits  on  his  form  in  his  shop.  Ac- 
cording to  this  supposition,  a  tree  may  advance  in  height  con- 
siderably, though  the  summer  shoot  should  be  destroyed  every 
year. 


FLOWING  OF  SAP. 

If  the  bough  of  a  vine  is  cut  late  in  the  spring,  just  before  the 
shoots  push  out,  it  will  bleed  considerably  ;  but  after  the  leaf  is 
out,  any  part  may  be  taken  off  without  the  least  inconvenience.1 
So  oaks  may  be  barked  while  the  leaf  is  budding ;  but  as  soon 
as  they  are  expanded,  the  bark  will  no  longer  part  from  the 
wood,  because  the  sap  that  lubricates  the  bark  and  makes  it 
part,  is  evaporated  off  through  the  leaves. 


RENOVATION  OF  LEAVES. 

When  oaks  are  quite  stripped  of  their  leaves  by  chaffers,  they 
are  clothed  again  soon  after  Midsummer  with  a  beautiful  foliage  : 
but  beeches,  horse-chestnuts  and  maples,  once  defaced  by  those 
insects,  never  recover  their  beauty  again  for  the  whole  season. 

l[ln  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  for  April  7,  1883  (vol.  xiii.,  pp.  819-20,  834-35, 
877-78),  is  an  account  by  Professor  Attfield  of  a  bleeding  birch  at  Ashlands,  Watford. 
The  tree  was  39  ft.  high  and  7  in.  in  diameter.  A  branch,  i  in.  diameter  at  10  ft. 
from  the  ground,  was  cut  across  in  March,  before  the  leaves  or  catkins  appeared. 
Nearly  a  gallon  a  day  flowed  from  the  wound  ;  the  flow  was  greater  in  sunshine 
than  in  shade,  and  greater  by  day  than  by  night.  The  fluid  contained  nearly  i 
per  cent,  of  sugar.] 


VARIOUS  PARTS  OF  NATURE       349 


ASH  TREES. 

Many  ash  trees  bear  loads  of  keys  every  year,  others  never 
seem  to  bear  any  at  all.  The  prolific  ones  are  naked  of  leaves 
and  unsightly ;  those  that  are  steril  abound  in  foliage,  and  carry 
their  verdure  a  long  while,  and  are  pleasing  objects.1 


BEECH.2 

Beeches  love  to  grow  in  crowded  situations,  and  will  insinuate 
themselves  through  the  thickest  covert,  so  as  to  surmount  it  all : 
are  therefore  proper  to  mend  thin  places  in  tall  hedges. 


SYCAMORE. 

May  12.  The  sycamore  or  great  maple  is  in  bloom,  and  at 
this  season  makes  a  beautiful  appearance,  and  affords  much 
pabulum  for  bees,  smelling  strongly  like  honey.  The  foliage  of 
this  tree  is  very  fine,  and  very  ornamental  to  outlets.  All  the 
maples  have  saccharine  juices. 


GALLS  OF  LOMBARDY  POPLAR. 

The  stalks  and  ribs  of  the  leaves  of  the  Lombardy  poplar  are 
embossed  with  large  tumours  of  an  oblong  shape,  which  by  in- 
curious observers  have  been  taken  for  the  fruit  of  the  tree. 
These  galls  are  full  of  small  insects,  some  of  which  are  winged, 
and  some  not.  The  parent  insect  is  of  the  genus  of  cynips. 
Some  poplars  in  the  garden  are  quite  loaded  with  these  excres- 
cences. 


CHESTNUT  TIMBER. 

John  Carpenter  brings  home  some  old  chestnut  trees  which 
are  very  long ;    in  several  places  the  wood-peckers  had  begun 

1  [There  are  three  kinds  of  ash-trees,  such  as  bear  staminate  flowers  only,  such 
as  bear  pistillate  flowers  only,  and  such  as  bear  both  staminate  and    pistillate 
flowers.] 

2  [This  extract  is  not  found  in  the  ed.  of  1795.] 


350  OBSERVATIONS  ON 

to  bore  them.  The  timber  and  bark  of  these  trees  are  so  very 
like  oak,  as  might  easily  deceive  an  indifferent  observer,  but  the 
wood  is  very  shakey,  and  towards  the  heart  cup-shakey  (that  is 
to  say,  apt  to  separate  in  round  pieces  like  cups),  so  that  the 
inward  parts  are  of  no  use.  They  are  bought  for  the  purpose  of 
cooperage,  but  must  make  but  ordinary  barrels,  buckets,  &c. 
Chestnut  sells  for  half  the  price  of  oak  ;  but  has  sometimes  been 
sent  into  the  king's  docks,  and  passed  off  instead  of  oak. 


LIME  BLOSSOMS. 

Dr.  Chandler  tells,  that  in  the  south  of  France,  an  infusion  of 
the  blossoms  of  the  lime-tree,  tilia,  is  in  much  esteem  as  a  remedy 
for  coughs,  hoarsenesses,  fevers,  &c.  and  that  at  Nismes,  he  saw 
an  avenue  of  limes  that  was  quite  ravaged  and  torn  in  pieces  by 
people  greedily  gathering  the  bloom,  which  they  dried  and  kept 
for  these  purposes. 

Upon  the  strength  of  this  information  we  made  some  tea  of 
lime -blossoms,  and  found  it  a  very  soft,  well-flavoured,  pleasant, 
saccharine  julep,  in  taste  much  resembling  the  juice  of  liquorice. 


BLACKTHORN  WINTER. 

This  tree  usually  blossoms  while  cold  N.E.  winds  blow  ;  so 
that  the  harsh  rugged  weather  obtaining  at  this  season,  is  called 
by  the  country  people,  blackthorn  winter. 


IVY-BERRIES. 

Ivy-berries  afford  a  noble  and  providential  supply  for  birds  in 
winter  and  spring  ;  for  the  first  severe  frost  freezes  and  spoils  all 
the  haws,  sometimes  by  the  middle  of  November ;  ivy-berries  do 
not  seem  to  freeze. 


HOPS. 

The  culture  of  Virgil's  vines  corresponded  very  exactly  with 
the  modern  management  of  hops.  I  might  instance  in  the 
perpetual  diggings  and  hoeings,  in  the  tying  to  the  stakes 


VAEIOUS  PARTS  OF  NATURE       351 

and  poles,  in  pruning  the  superfluous  shoots,  &c.,  but  lately  I 
have  observed  a  new  circumstance,  which  was  a  neighbouring 
farmer's  harrowing  between  the  rows  of  hops  with  a  small 
triangular  harrow,  drawn  by  one  horse,  and  guided  by  two 
handles.  This  occurrence  brought  to  my  mind  the  following 
passage : 


ipsa 


"  Flectere  luctantes  inter  vineta  juvencos."     Georgic  II. 

Hops  are  dioecious  plants :  hence  perhaps  it  might  be  proper, 
though  not  practised,  to  leave  purposely  some  male  plants  in 
every  garden,  that  their  farina  might  impregnate  the  blossoms. 
The  female  plants  without  their  male  attendants  are  not  in  their 
natural  state  :  hence  we  may  suppose  the  frequent  failure  of  crop 
so  incident  to  hop-grounds  ;  no  other  growth,  cultivated  by  man, 
has  such  frequent  and  general  failures  as  hops. 

Two  hop-gardens  much  injured  by  a  hail-storm,  June  5,  shew 
now  (September  2)  a  prodigious  crop,  and  larger  and  fairer  hops 
than  any  in  the  parish.  The  owners  seem  now  to  be  convinced 
that  the  hail,  by  beating  off  the  tops  of  the  binds,  has  increased 
the  side-shoots,  and  improved  the  crop.  Query.  Therefore 
should  not  the  tops  of  hops  be  pinched  off  when  the  binds  are 
very  gross,  and  strong  ? 


SEED  LYING  DORMANT. 

The  naked  part  of  the  Hanger  is  now  covered  with  thistles  of 
various  kinds.  The  seeds  of  these  thistles  may  have  lain  probably 
under  the  thick  shade  of  the  beeches  for  many  years,  but  could 
not  vegetate  till  the  sun  and  air  were  admitted.  When  old  beech 
trees  are  cleared  away,  the  naked  ground  in  a  year  or  two  becomes 
covered  with  strawberry  plants,  the  seeds  of  which  must  have 
lain  in  the  ground  for  an  age  at  least.  One  of  the  slidders  or 
trenches  down  the  middle  of  the  Hanger,  close-covered  over  with 
lofty  beeches  near  a  century  old,  is  still  called  strawberry  slidder, 
though  no  strawberries  have  grown  there  in  the  memory  of  man. 
That  sort  of  fruit  did  once,  no  doubt,  abound  there,  and  will  again 
when  the  obstruction  is  removed. 


352  OBSERVATIONS  ON 


BEANS  SOWN  BY  BIRDS. 

Many  horse-beans  sprang  up  in  my  field-walks  in  the  autumn, 
and  are  now  grown  to  a  considerable  height.  As  the  Ewel  was 
in  beans  last  summer,  it  is  most  likely  that  these  seeds  came  from 
thence ;  but  then  the  distance  is  too  considerable  for  them  to  have 
been  conveyed  by  mice.  It  is  most  probable  therefore  that  they 
were  brought  by  birds,  and  in  particular  by  jays  and  pies,  who 
seem  to  have  hid  them  among  the  grass  and  moss,  and  then  to 
have  forgotten  where  they  had  stowed  them.  Some  peas  are 
growing  also  in  the  same  situation,  and  probably  under  the  same 
circumstances. 


CUCUMBERS  SET  BY  BEES. 

If  bees,  who  are  much  the  best  setters  of  cucumbers,  do  not 
happen  to  take  kindly  to  the  frames,  the  best  way  is  to  tempt 
them  by  a  little  honey  put  on  the  male  and  female  bloom.  When 
they  are  once  induced  to  haunt  the  frames,  they  set  all  the  fruit, 
and  will  hover  with  impatience  round  the  lights  in  a  morning, 
till  the  glasses  are  opened.  Probatum  est. 


WHEAT. 

A  notion  has  always  obtained,  that  in  England  hot  summers 
are  productive  of  fine  crops  of  wheat;  yet  in  the  years  1780  and 
1781,  though  the  heat  was  intense,  the  wheat  was  much  mildewed, 
and  the  crop  light.  Does  not  severe  heat,  while  the  straw  is 
milky,  occasion  its  juices  to  exsude,  which  being  extra vasated, 
occasion  spots,  discolour  the  stems  and  blades,  and  injure  the 
health  of  the  plants  ? 


TRUFFLES. 

August.  A  truffle-hunter  called  on  us,  having  in  his  pocket 
several  large  truffles  found  in  this  neighbourhood.  He  says  these 
roots  are  not  to  be  found  in  deep  woods,  but  in  narrow  hedge 
rows  and  the  skirts  of  coppices.  Some  truffles,  he  informed  us, 
lie  two  feet  within  the  earth,  and  some  quite  on  the  surface  ;  the 


VARIOUS  PAETS  OF  NATUEE       353 

latter,  he  added,  have  little  or  no  smell,  and  are  not  so  easily 
discovered  by  the  dogs  as  those  that  lie  deeper.  Half  a  crown  a 
pound  was  the  price  which  he  asked  for  this  commodity. 

Truffles  never  abound  in  wet  winters  and  springs.     They  are 
in  season  in  different  situations,  at  least  nine  months  in  the  year. 


TREMELLA  NOSTOC. 

Though  the  weather  may  have  been  ever  so  dry  and  burning, 
yet  after  two  or  three  wet  days,  this  jelly-like  substance  abounds 
on  the  walks. 


FAIRY  RINGS. 

The  cause,  occasion,  call  it  what  you  will,  of  fairy -rings,  subsists 
in  the  turf,  and  is  conveyable  with  it :  for  the  turf  of  my  garden- 
walks,  brought  from  the  down  above,  abounds  with  those  appear- 
ances, which  vary  their  shape,  and  shift  situation  continually, 
discovering  themselves  now  in  circles,  now  in  segments,  and 
sometimes  in  irregular  patches  and  spots.  Wherever  they  obtain, 
puff-balls  abound  ;  the  seeds  of  which  were  doubtless  brought  in 
the  turf. 


METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 
BAROMETER. 

NOVEMBER  22,  1768.  A  remarkable  fall  of  the  barometer  all 
over  the  kingdom.  At  Selborne  we  had  no  wind,  and  not  much 
rain ;  only  vast,  swagging,  rock-like  clouds  appeared  at  a  dis- 
tance. 

PARTIAL  FROST. 

The  country  people,  who  are  abroad  in  winter  mornings  long 
before  sun-rise,  talk  much  of  hard  frost  in  some  spots,  and  none 
in  others.     The  reason  of  these  partial  frosts  is  obvious,  for  there 
23 


354  OBSERVATIONS  ON 

are  at  such  times  partial  fogs  about ;  where  the  fog  obtains,  little 
or  no  frost  appears  :  but  where  the  air  is  clear,  there  it  freezes 
hard.  So  the  frost  takes  place  either  on  hill  or  in  dale,  wherever 
the  air  happens  to  be  clearest  and  freest  from  vapour. 


THAW.i 

Thaws  are  sometimes  surprisingly  quick,  considering  the  small 
quantity  of  rain.  Does  not  the  warmth  at  such  times  come  from 
below  ?  The  cold  in  still,  severe  seasons  seems  to  come  down 
from  above  :  for  the  coming  over  of  a  cloud  in  severe  nights  raises 
the  thermometer  abroad  at  once  full  ten  degrees.  The  first  notices 
of  thaws  often  seem  to  appear  in  vaults,  cellars,  &c. 

If  a  frost  happens,  even  when  the  ground  is  considerably  dry, 
as  soon  as  a  thaw  takes  place,  the  paths  and  fields  are  all  in  a 
batter.  Country  people  say  that  the  frost  draws  moisture.  But 
the  true  philosophy  is,  that  the  steam  and  vapours  continually 
ascending  from  the  earth,  are  bound  in  by  the  frost,  and  not 
suffered  to  escape  till  released  by  the  thaw.  No  wonder  then 
that  the  surface  is  all  in  a  float ;  since  the  quantity  of  moisture 
by  evaporation  that  arises  daily  from  every  acre  of  ground  is 
astonishing. 


FROZEN  SLEET. 

January  20.  Mr.  H's  man  says  that  he  caught  this  day,  in 
a  lane  near  Hackwood  park,  many  rooks,  which,  attempting  to  fly, 
fell  from  the  trees,  with  their  wings  frozen  together  by  the  sleet, 
that  froze  as  it  fell.  There  were,  he  affirms,  many  dozen  so 
disabled. 


MIST,  CALLED  LONDON  SMOKE. 

This  is  a  blue  mist  which  has  somewhat  the  smell  of  coal- 
smoke,  and  as  it  always  comes  to  us  with  a  N.  E.  wind,  is 
supposed  to  come  from  London.  It  has  a  strong  smell,  and  is 
supposed  to  occasion  blights.  When  such  mists  appear  they  are 
usually  followed  by  dry  weather. 

^See  Letter  LXI.  to  Harrington.] 


VAKIOUS  PARTS  OF  NATUEE       355 


REFLECTION  OF  FOG. 

When  people  walk  in  a  deep  white  fog  by  night  with  a  lanthorn, 
if  they  will  turn  their  backs  to  the  light,  they  will  see  their  shades 
impressed  on  the  fog  in  rude  gigantic  proportions.  This  phe- 
nomenon seems  not  to  have  been  attended  to,  but  implies  the 
great  density  of  the  meteor  at  that  juncture. 


HONEY-DEW.i 

June  4,  1783.  Vast  honey-dews  this  week.  The  reason  of 
these  seems  to  be,  that  in  hot  days  the  effluvia  of  flowers  are 
drawn  up  by  a  brisk  evaporation,  and  then  hi  the  night  fall  down 
with  the  dews  with  which  they  are  entangled. 

This  clammy  substance  is  very  grateful  to  bees,  who  gather  it 
with  great  assiduity,  but  it  is  injurious  to  the  trees  on  which 
it  happens  to  fall,  by  stopping  the  pores  of  the  leaves.  The 
greatest  quantity  falls  in  still,  close  weather;  because  winds 
disperse  it,  and  copious  dews  dilute  it,  and  prevent  its  ill  effects. 
It  falls  mostly  in  hazy  warm  weather. 


MORNING  CLOUDS. 

After  a  bright  night  and  vast  dew,  the  sky  usually  becomes 
cloudy  by  eleven  or  twelve  o'clock  in  the  forenoon,  and  clear 
again  towards  the  decline  of  the  day.  The  reason  seems  to  be, 
that  the  dew,  drawn  up  by  evaporation,  occasions  the  clouds ; 
which,  towards  evening,  being  no  longer  rendered  buoyant  by  the 
warmth  of  the  sun,  melt  away,  and  fall  down  again  in  dews.  If 
clouds  are  watched  in  a  still,  warm  evening,  they  will  be  seen  to 
melt  away,  and  disappear. 


DRIPPING  WEATHER  AFTER  DROUGHT. 

No  one  that  has  not  attended  to  such  matters,  and  taken  down 
remarks,  can  be  aware  how  much  ten  days  dripping  weather  will 
influence  the  growth  of  grass  or  corn,  after  a  severe  dry  season. 
This  present  summer,  1776,  yielded  a  remarkable  instance;  for 

. 

^[Seenote  to  p.  231.] 


356        OBSERVATIONS  ON  NATURE 

till  the  30th  of  May  the  fields  were  burnt  up  and  naked,  and  the 
barley  not  half  out  of  the  ground  ;  but  now,  June  10,  there  is  an 
agreeable  prospect  of  plenty. 


AURORA  BOREALIS. 

November  1,  1788.  The  N.  aurora  made  a  particular  appear- 
ance, forming  itself  into  a  broad,  red,  fiery  belt,  which  extended 
from  E.  to  W.  across  the  welkin :  but  the  moon  rising  at  about 
ten  o'clock,  in  unclouded  majesty,  in  the  E.  put  an  end  to  this 
grand,  but  awful  meteorous  phenomenon. 


BLACK  SPRING,  1771. 

Dr.  Johnson  says,  that  "in  1771  the  season  was  so  severe  in 
the  island  of  Sky,  that  it  is  remembered  by  the  name  of  the  black 
spring.  The  snow,  which  seldom  lies  at  all,  covered  the  ground 
for  eight  weeks,  many  cattle  died,  and  those  that  survived  were 
so  emaciated  that  they  did  not  require  the  male  at  the  usual 
season."  The  case  was  just  the  same  with  us  here  in  the  south ; 
never  were  so  many  barren  cows  known  as  in  the  spring  following 
that  dreadful  period.  Whole  dairies  missed  being  in  calf  together. 

At  the  end  of  March  the  face  of  the  earth  was  naked  to  a  sur- 
prising degree.  Wheat  hardly  to  be  seen,  and  no  signs  of  any 
grass ;  turneps  all  gone,  and  sheep  in  a  starving  way.  All 
provisions  rising  in  price.  Farmers  cannot  sow  for  want  of  rain. 


INDEX.1 


Aberdavine  (siskin),  in  note. 

Achangre,  260  ;  Jacobus  de,  258. 

Actedene,  Richard,  260. 

Adanson  on  migration  of  swallows,  80. 

Aikin,  Dr.,  his  Naturalist's  Calendar,  xiii,  xxix,  319  note. 

Air,  humming  in  the,  336. 

Alice  Holt,  xxvii ;  held  by  grant  from  the  Crown,  19,  20 ;  extracts  relating 

to,  266  note ;  lop  and  top  of,  20. 
Alpine  swift,  72  and  note,  149. 

Alton,  xxviii,  260;  manufactures  of,  n  ;  Gurdon,  bailiff  of,  261. 
AMERIA,  one  of  the  wives  of  Sir  Adam  Gurdon,  makes  a  grant  of  lands  to 

the  Priory,  269. 

America,  animals  peculiar  to,  55. 
American  junipers  resist  frost,  224. 
Ammonites  of  Selborne,  6. 
Anathoth,  a  place  of  echoes,  181,  221. 
Andalusia,  mild  winters  of,  31 ;   natural  history  of.  to  be  investigated,  31 ; 

stone-curlew  in,  73;  movements  of  birds  in,  114;  swift  in,  145;  migra- 
tion of  swift  in,  149. 
Anecdote,  White's  use  of,  64  note. 
Animals,    taming   of,   50;    trropyrj   of,   123;    devouring   their   young,   124; 

sociality  of,  155 ;   different,  attached  to  each  other,  171. 
ANNE,  QUEEN,  came  to  Wolmer-forest  to  see  the  red  deer,  14. 
Antiquities  of  Selborne,  237. 
Ants,  swarming  of,  344. 
Aphides,  migration  of,  209 ;  enemies  of,  232  note ;  tongue  of,  232  note ;  at 

Selborne,  210,  231,  343. 

Appendix  to  Natural  History  of  Selborne,  317  note. 
APRIL,  1770,  the  remarkable  inclemency  of  its  weather,  106. 
Aquarium  for  fishes,  210. 
Arbours  on  St.  Barnabas'  feast,  16. 
Arden,  Robert,  315  note. 
Aristotle,  on  migration  of  birds,  xxxii ;   on  goats  breathing  by  their  ears, 

33  ;  on  hawks  and  cuckoos,  151  note. 
Arnold,  Miles,  Selborne  parsonage  leased  to,  309. 
ARUM,  the  cuckoo-pint,  eaten  in  hard  weather,  by  what,  34. 
Ascension,  birds  in  isle  of,  79,  100. 

1  The  entries  which  have  the  first  word  in  small  capital  letters  are  from  the 
original  edition  of  1789.  They  are  of  interest  on  several  accounts  ;  among  others, 
because  they  contain  old  words,  which  occur  nowhere  else  in  the  book. 


358  INDEX 

ASHFORD,  THOMAS,  last  prior  of  Selborne,  297,  299,  300,  304 ;  is  pensioned 

by  Magdalen  College,  306. 
Ashton,  John,  297. 

ASH-TREE,  a  rupture  one,  what,  161 ;  a  shrew  one,  what,  162. 
Ash-trees,  349. 

Asses  ploughing  and  penned,  151. 
Attfield  on  bleeding  birch,  348  note. 

AUGUST,  the  most  mute  month  respecting  the  singing  of  birds,  84. 
Augustine  Canons,  257  note. 
Auk,  little,  found  near  Alresford,  81. 
Auks,  walk  of,  189. 
Aurora  borealis,  356. 
Austine,  Ralph,  vicar  of  Selborne,  253. 
Autumn  song  of  birds,  83. 
AYLES  HOLT,  alias  ALICE  HOLT,  the  forest  of,  19 ;  its  grantees,  19. 

Bacon-fly,  74. 

Badeisley,  preceptory  at,  270. 

Barker,  Samuel,  x. 

Thomas,  9  note. 

Barometer,  used  to  measure  height,  221 ;  remarkable  fall  of,  353. 

BAROMETERS,  Selborne  and  Newton  compared,  221 ;  South  Lambeth,  221. 

Baron,  Robert,  304. 

BARRAGON,  a  genteel  corded  stuff,  where  manufactured,  u. 

Barrington,  Hon.  Daines,  his  Naturalist's  Journal,  xiii,  xx  ;  life  of,  xvii ; 

on  migration,  xviii ;  on  cuckoo,  xviii ;  on  the  Linnaean  system,  xviii  ; 

on  singing  of  birds,  xix  ;  favours  the  Natural  History  of  Selborne,  xxi, 

105  ;  on  climate  of  Italy,  105  ;  on  torpidity  of  swallow-tribe,  114  note  ; 

his  Miscellanies,  xvii,  206. 

Bartlett,  on  prehensile  tail  of  harvest-mouse,  32  note. 
Basingstoke,  260 ;  Holy  Ghost  Chapel  at,  destruction  of,  314. 
Bassinges,  or  Basynges,  260,  263. 
BAT,  a  tame  one,  some  particulars  about,  26  ;  drink  on  the  wing  like  swallows, 

26  ;  the  large  sort,  some  particulars  about,  62  ;  nondescript  in  1769,  62  ; 

more  account  of,  76. 
Bats,  species  of,  51  ;  of  Selborne,  25  ;  food  of,  26,  62  ;  on  the  Thames,  26 ; 

sexes  of,  76  ;  anatomy  of,  76. 
Beachy  Head,  Cornish  choughs  found  on,  80. 
Beans  sown  by  birds,  352. 
Bear's  foot  (Hellebore),  185. 

BEAUFORT,  bishop  of  Winchester,  his  register  imperfect,  283. 
Bee-bird,  migration  of,  114. 

Beech,  349  ;  the  most  lovely  of  all  forest  trees,  i. 
Bees,  idiot  boy  addicted  to,  160 ;  supposed  to  be  injured  by  echoes,  180  ;  not 

affected  by  sounds,  181  ;  should  not  be  exposed  to  sun  in  winter,  223  ; 

feed  on  honey-dew,  232  ;  carder-bee,  340  ;  cucumbers  set  by,  352. 
Bell,  Prof.  Thomas,  his  Life  of  Gilbert  White,  ix  note,  xxx ;  on  White  and 

Pennant,  xvi ;  his  edition  of  White's  Selborne,  xxx  ;  on  black  grouse, 

13  note ;  on  names  of  Sussex  meres,  18  note  ;  on  White's  first  letter  to 

Pennant,  21  note  ;  on  water-shrew,  62  note  ;  on  comparison  of  birds'  legs, 

203  note  ;  on  White's  barometer,  221  note;  on  Selborne  Church,  247 

note. 


INDEX  359 

Bell  on  gypsies  in  Tartary,  157. 

Bells  of  Selborne  Church,  248. 

Belon's  account  of  migration  of  hawks  and  kites,  114. 

Berne,  260. 

Bene's  parsonage,  252. 

Bennett  on  glands  of  head  of  antelopes,  32  note. 

Bennett's  edition  of  White's  Selborne,  xxx. 

Bensted,  266  note. 

Bere,  forest  of,  78. 

Berger,  Calendar  of  flora  by,  28. 

BERNE,  alias  BERNES,  PETER,  sacrist  of  Selborne  Priory,  288 ;  appointed 
prior  by  lapse  to  the  visitor,  290 ;  resigned  his  priorship,  291 ;  is  re-elected, 
295  ;  relinquishes  again,  296 ;  is  pensioned,  298  ;  the  indenture  delivered 
to  him,  as  sacrist,  from  the  prior  of  Selborne  [Appendix]. 

Besoms  made  of  moss,  159. 

Bidwell  on  nests  in  which  cuckoo  lays,  102  note. 

Bilberry,  185  ;  creeping  or  cranberry,  185. 

BIN'S,  OR  BEAN'S  POND,  for  what  remarkable,  17. 

Birch,  bleeding  of,  348  note. 

BIRDS,  summer,  of  passage,  a  list  of,  37,  94 ;  living  ones  shewn  here,  when 
from  distant  regions,  why  usually  of  the  thick-billed  genera,  69 ;  of 
summer  passage,  seen  spring  and  autumn  at  Gibraltar,  72  ;  soft-billed, 
that  winter  with  us,  how  supported,  86,  87  ;  of  winter  passage,  a  list  of, 
95  ;  that  continue  in  full  song  till  after  midsummer,  96,  97  ;  why  fatten 
in  moderate  frosts,  104 ;  what  sorts  are  pulveratrices,  108  ;  what  occasions 
their  congregating,  119;  in  the  season  of  nidification,  tame,  152;  various 
manner  of  motion  of,  187 ;  notes  and  language  of,  189. 

Birds,  migration  of,  see  Migration  of  birds ;  of  Wolmer  pond,  19  ;  on  rigging 
of  ships,  31 ;  best  observed  before  the  leaves  are  out,  38  ;  monogamous, 
67  ;  pairing  of,  67,  hard-billed  and  soft-billed,  69 ;  that  are  silent  about 
midsummer,  83  ;  in  Ascension,  79,  100 ;  autumn-song  of,  83  ;  modes  of 
drinking  of,  84 ;  soft-billed  that  stay  the  year,  95  ;  that  sing  in  the  night, 
96 ;  that  are  silent  at  midsummer,  98 ;  that  only  sing  very  early,  98 ; 
that  are  hardly  to  be  called  singing-birds,  98 ;  that  sing  as  they  fly,  99 ; 
that  breed  early,  99;  double-brooded,  100;  "methodus"  of,  100;  that 
sing  late,  100 ;  song  and  incubation  of,  100 ;  in  cages,  101 ;  soft-billed, 
food  of,  102  ;  hard-billed,  food  of,  102  ;  singing  after  midsummer,  103  ; 
colours  of,  107 ;  young,  sex  of,  hard  to  be  distinguished,  107 ;  flight  and 
gait  of,  107,  187;  that  dust  or  wash,  108  ;  of  Ringmer,  no,  internal 
migration  of,  in;  song  of,  due  to  rivalry,  120;  parental  care  of,  123; 
and  lice,  127  ;  that  are  ill  adapted  for  migration,  134 ;  moulting-season 
of,  148;  nidification  of,  152;  congregating  of,  119,  155;  dispersion  of, 
182 ;  that  walk,  189 ;  in  snowy  weather,  226  ;  destroyed  by  long  frost, 
228  ;  OBSERVATIONS  on,  321 ;  insect-eating,  321  ;  their  choice  of  food, 

•-.  321  ;  in  severe  weather,  321 ;  of  prey  and  insects,  321 ;  grain-eating,  can 
subsist  on  leaves,  325  ;  swimming  of,  327 ;  diving,  327  ;  that  build  on 
the  ground,  330  ;  sowing  of  beans  by,  352. 

Bird's  nest  (Monotropa),  185. 

ophrys,  186. 

Bishop's  Waltham,  sand-martins  at,  142. 

Black  Act,  15. 

beetle,  337. 


360  INDEX 

Black  canons,  257  note. 

dolphin  (turnip  flea),  74. 

grouse,  13. 

malm  (chloritic  marl),  2. 

"  Black  Spring"  of  1771,  356. 

Blackbird,  sings  in  autumn,  83  ;  sings  as  it  flies,  99  ;  destroyed  by  frost,  228. 

BLACK-CAP,  an  elegant  songster,  85, 101. 

a  summer  migrant,  23,  38,  67,  94;  its  arrival,  67,  321  ;  sings  after  mid- 
summer, 97  ;  ill-provided  for  long  flights,  134. 

Blackmoor  or  Blackmore,  254,  316  ;  farm  of,  17  ;  oaks  of,  3  ;  Roman  coins 
found  at,  240  note. 

Blackthorn,  winter,  350. 

Blackwall  on  gossamer,  154  note. 

Black-winged  stilt,  202. 

Blakemere,  271. 

Blindworm,  41. 

Blue  rag,  7. 

Boars  in  Wolmer-forest,  20;  effect  of  loss  of  tusks  on,  170. 

Bog-wood  of  Wolmer-forest,  12,  219. 

Bohemian  chatterer,  27,  96. 

Bombylius,  342. 

Booby,  100. 

Boots,  wearing  of,  281. 

Bot-fly,  341. 

Botany,  its  uses,  183. 

Boughton,  Richard,  vicar  of  Selborne,  253. 

Boussingault  on  honey-dew,  232  note. 

Bowers  on  St.  Barnaba's  feast,  16. 

BOY,  an  idiot,  his  strange  propensity,  160 ;  eats  bees,  &c.,  160. 

Bradeseth,  271. 

Brady,  G.  S.,  on  fauna  of  dew-ponds,  167  note. 

Brambling,  see  Snow-fleck. 

Brampton,  Henry,  alias  Brompton,  284. 

Bramshot,  i,  12. 

Breadalbane,  seat  of  Lord,  89. 

Brighthelmstone,  bustards  on  downs  near,  no. 

BRIMSTONE-LODGE,  some  account  of,  17. 

Bristowe,  Buncombe,  vicar  of  Selborne,  his  bequests,  256. 

British  Museum,  xiii. 

British  Zoology,  Pennant's,  60. 

Bromesgrove,  John,  293. 

Brompden,  260. 

BROOKS  AT  SELBORNE,  what  fishes  they  produce,  25. 

Brown  owl,  castings  of,  25. 

Bryan  Galfrid,  294. 

Bucks  and  does,  herd  separately  in  winter,  112. 

Buffon,  xiii,  xiv,  55  note. 

BUG,  HARVEST,  some  account  of,  73. 

Bull  of  Innocent  VIII. ,  305  ;  of  Pope  Martin,  286. 

BULLFINCH,  turns  black,  34,  81. 

song  of,  99. 

Bull's  head  (fish),  25. 


INDEX  361 

BUNTING,  a  very  rare  bird  at  Selborne,  30,  99,  in. 

cirl,  30  note ;  common,  30;  song  of,  99;  common  along  coast,  in. 

Burials  at  Selborne  Church,  249. 

Burning  of  heaths,  16. 

Burrel,  see  Fly. 

Burton  on  migration  of  birds,  xxxii. 

Biisgen  on  honey-dew,  232  note. 

Bustard,  its  timidity,  100;  on  downs  near  Brighthelmstone,  no. 

BUTCHER-BIRD,  red-backed,  46,  80. 

great  grey,  79. 

Butt-close,  308  note. 

Butt-wood-close,  308. 

BUZZARDS,  honey,  some  account  of,  89. 

flight  of,  1 88. 

Byfield,  Richard,  vicar  of  Selborne,  his  bequest,  254. 

Cabbages  known  to  our  Saxon  ancestors,  177. 

Calabria  and  Sicily,  earthquakes  in,  233. 

Calculus  aegogropila,  76. 

Cambridgeshire,  spires  of,  50. 

Canaries,  how  to  naturalise,  28. 

Cancer,  said  to  be  cured  by  toads,  44,  49. 

Cane,  a  weasel,  34. 

Cane,  William  Henry,  vicar  of  Selborne,  255. 

Canons  regular,  257  note. 

Canwood,  Henry,  297. 

Capons  have  small  combs,  169. 

CAPRIMULGUS,  or  fern-owl,  some  new  observations  about,  77. 

Carder-bee,  340. 

Carew  on  migration  of  birds,  xxxiii. 

Carniola,  birds  of,  70,  106,  108 ;  quicksilver  mines  of,  106. 

Carp,  in  ponds  on  Wolmer-forest,  18  ;  habits  of,  85. 

Carpenter,  Richard,  preceptor  of  Sudington,  271,  273. 

CASTRATION,  its  strange  effects,  169. 

Cat  suckles  a  leveret,  171 ;  electric  during  frost,  230;  and  squirrels,  334. 

CATS,  house,  strange  that  they  should  be  so  fond  of  fish,  68. 

catch  swifts  on  the  wing,  150 ;  and  hearth-crickets,  200 ;  running  out 

for  shot  sparrows,  323. 
Cattle  resorting  to  water,  18  ;  sociality  of,  155  ;  poisoned  by  yew,  250 ;  and 

wagtails,  332. 

Celery  little  known  in  England  in  1663,  178. 
Chafers  or  tree-beetles,  117,  336. 
Chaffinch  silent  before  midsummer,  98  ;  subsists  on  hard  food,  102  ;  cuckoo's 

egg  in  nest  of,  102 ;  nest  of,  214. 

CHAFFINCHES,  vast  flocks  of  hens,  29,  35,  81 ;  hens,  more  account  of,  112. 
Chalk  of  Selborne,  2  note. 
CHALK-HILLS,  why  peculiarly  beautiful,  133. 
Chalk-marl  of  Selborne,  2  note. 

Chandler,  Dr.  Richard,  life  of,  xx ;  on  lime-blossoms,  350. 
Chantries,  273  note. 
Chantry-services,  280. 
Chapel-farm,  260,  309. 


362  INDEX 

Chapel- farm  field,  264,  309. 

manor,  near  Oakhanger,  316. 

Chapman,  John,  304. 

Charter  of  Selborne  Priory,  259  ;  for  choosing  of  a  prior,  275. 

Chaucer  on  morals  of  the  clergy,  287. 

Cherwell,  wagtails  on,  101. 

Chestnut-timber,  349. 

Chicken,  notes  of,  191. 

Chiffchaff,  a  summer  migrant,  38,  94 ;  hardly  to  be  called  a  singing  bird,  99  ; 
sings  on  to  September,  99  ;  its  note,  328  ;  its  arrival,  328  ;  (?)  35  note. 

Chinese  dogs  fattened  for  eating,  217. 

Chips  in  mortar,  8. 

Chough,  80,  no. 

Christian  Malford,  land-rails  at,  325. 

CHURCH,  SELBORNE,  particulars  about,  243,  248. 

Churches,  Norfolk,  Hampshire  and  Sussex  meanly  furnished  with,  49  ;  orien- 
tation of,  249;  uncleanly  condition  of,  281. 

Churn-owl,  see  Nightjar. 

Churr-worm  (mole-cricket),  202. 

Cinque-foil,  marsh,  185. 

Cistern  of  monastery  and  leaden  pipes,  308. 

Claw  of  nightjar,  77. 

Clay's  pond,  fossils  at,  6. 

Cleve,  Michael,  304. 

Climate  of  Selborne,  222  f. 

Clouds,  morning,  355. 

Clutterbuck  on  dew-ponds,  165  note. 

Clydegrove,  Stephen,  297. 

Clyff,  Michael,  303. 

Cobham,  Lord,  a  promoter  of  horticulture,  177. 

Coccus  VITIS  VINIFER^E,  strange  and  rare  insect  in  England,  208. 

Cock,  crowing  of,  191. 

Cockchafer,  329  ;  small,  84. 

Cockroach,  337. 

Cockscomb  oyster,  6. 

COINS,  Roman,  found  at  Selborne  in  great  abundance,  239-40. 

found  in  Wolmer  pond,  19,  239. 

Cold  descends  from  above,  224  ;  greatest  in  hollows,  229  ;  maximum  of,  227. 

Colour,  of  plumage  affected  by  food,  34;  affects  birds'  choice  of  food,  321. 

Colours  of  birds  in  pairing  time,  107. 

Comarum,  185. 

Comb,  family,  for  the  use  of  hinds,  289  note. 

Commandries,  270  note. 

Commerce  in  vegetable  products,  184. 

Compedes  of  Linnaeus,  189. 

Conduit-wood,  a  spring  in,  308. 

Coney-croft,  316. 

hanger,  316. 

Congregating  of  birds,  112,  119. 
Cook's  voyages,  xiv. 

Cooper,  bishop  of  Winchester,  253. 
Coot,  flight  of,  189. 


INDEX  363 

Corn  and  weather,  355. 

Corn-mill  of  a  manor,  310. 

Cornish  chough  at  Beachy  Head,  80;  on  cliffs  of  Sussex,  no. 

CORNUA  AMMONIS,  where  found,  6. 

Corrodies,  280. 

Coryarich,  zigzag  up,  89. 

Couke,  John,  vicar  of  Newton,  285. 

Court-leet  and  Court-baron  at  the  Grange,  315. 

Cowper,  William,  303. 

Cows  and  wagtails,  332. 

Cranberry,  at  Bin's  pond,  185. 

Cranes,  flight  of,  189  ;  noisy  and  loquacious,  190. 

Cranmer,  18. 

Cressi  Hall,  heronry  at,  50,  52. 

CRICKET,  field,  a  monography  of,  196  ;  hearth,  a  monography  of,  199  ;  mole, 
a  monography  of,  201. 

hearth,  337,  338. 

CROCUS,  the  spring,  and  saffron,  their  different  seasons  of  blossoming  won- 
derful, why,  186. 

Crops  and  frost,  225,  228;  and  dripping  weather  after  drought,  355. 

Crossbill  at  Selborne,  25  ;  a  chance  migrant,  96 ;  flights  of,  at  Ringmer,  135. 

Crown,  Wolmer-forest,  grants  of  by,  19 ;  lessees  of,  266  note. 

Crows  go  in  pairs  the  whole  year  round,  80 ;  grey,  84  ;  swaggering  of,  188 ; 
amorous  sound  of,  190. 

CUCKOO,  particulars  about,  38,  56,  94,  102,  104,  109  ;  sing  in  different  keys, 
117-8  ;  a  young  one  in  the  nest  of  a  titlark,  109  ;  several  skimming  over 
a  pond,  why,  109. 

small  size  of  its  egg,  104  note ;  its  egg  in  nest  of  hedge-sparrow,  104 

note ;  egg-laying  of,  102 ;  food  of,  109,  167 ;  in  nest  of  meadow-pipit, 
116 ;  Linnaeus  on,  109  ;  note  of,  118  ;  number  of  eggs  laid  by,  105  ;  sup- 
posed reason  for  its  not  incubating,  166. 

Cuckoo-pint,  eaten  by  thrushes,  34. 

Cucumbers  set  by  bees,  352. 

Culver-croft,  316. 

CUMBERLAND,  WILLIAM,  DUKE  OF,  takes  away  the  red  deer  from  Wolmer- 
forest,  14. 

Cundyth  (conduit)  wood,  308. 

"  Cup-shakey  "  timber,  350. 

CURLEW,  STONE,  some  account  of,  35  ;  more  particulars  of,  72. 

protective  resemblance  of,  xxiii,  36,  73,  107  note  ;  migration  of,  328. 

Dabchick;  flight  of,  189. 

Daker-hen  (landrail),  324. 

Dalrymple  quoted,  177  note. 

Danewort,  186. 

Dartmoor,  ring  ousels  on,  59,  80. 

Dartmouth,  first  Earl  of,  266  note. 

Darwin  on  formation  of  mould  by  earthworms,  xxiii,  173  note ;  on  origin  of 

domestic  pigeon,  91  note;  on  gossamer,  154  note;  on  honey-dew,  232 

note. 

DASTARD,  alias  WASTARD,  natural  son  to  Sir  Adam  Gurdon,  269. 
Dates  to  deeds,  258  note. 


364  INDEX 

DAWS  breed  in  unlikely  places,  48. 

see  Jackdaws. 

De  Geer,  xiii,  xiv. 

De  Rupibus  (Peter),  founder  of  Selborne  Priory,  256. 

DEER,  RED,  in  Wolmer-forest,  some  account  of,  13  ;  fallow,  in  Holt-forest,  20 ; 

fallow,  their  spiracula,  or  breathing  places,  32. 

association  of  with  cows,  155. 

Deer-stealers,  15. 

Derham,  xv,  xxv ;  on  migration  of  frogs,  40. 

Dew-ponds,  163. 

Dickens  on  rush-burners,  159  note. 

Dipper,  no. 

Diptera  not  torpid  in  winter,  336. 

Diseases  caused  by  bad  diet,  176. 

DISPERSION  OF  BIRDS,  pretty  equal,  why,  182. 

Distant  on  assimilative  coloration,  34. 

Diver,  great  speckled,  in  Wolmer-forest,  326. 

Divers  (birds),  walk  of,  189  ;  swimming  of,  326. 

DOGS,  CHINESE,  from  Canton,  217. 

blinded  by  gossamer,  153  ;  fattened  in  China  for  eating,  217  ;  of  South 

America,  fed  for  the  table,  217  ;  of  Pacific  Islands,  bred  upon  vegetables, 

217;  ears  of,  218;  used  to  draw  sledges,  218;  refuse  bones  of  game, 

218;  and  of  carrion-birds,  218. 
DOMESDAY- BOOK,  account  of  Selborne  from,  240. 

silent  respecting  churches,  243. 

Dorton,  or  Durton,  mill  at,  258,  310 ;  common  at,  269  note. 

Dove,  ring,  see  Ring-dove. 

DOVE,  STOCK,  or  wild  winter-pigeon,  80 ;  stock,  many  particulars  of,  from  90 

to  93. 

Doves,  cooing  of,  190. 
Dove-house  of  a  manor,  310. 
Dove-houses  at  Culver-croft,  316. 
DOWNS,  SUSSEX,  a  lovely  range,  132. 

sheep  on,  133. 

Drey,  squirrel's  nest,  334. 

Drinking  of  bats,  26  ;  of  swallows,  138  ;  of  swallows  and  swifts,  82. 

Dripping  weather  after  drought  and  crops,  355. 

Drumlanrig,  89. 

Duck,  wild,  a  winter  bird  of  passage,  96;  migration  of,  115;  with  arms  of 

King  of  Denmark  on  its  collar,  115  ;  gait  of,  189;  wings  of,  189;  noisy 

and  loquacious,  190;  sexual  distinction  of  voice,  191. 
Ducks  and  geese  rest  on  the  water,  323. 
Dugdale  on  Selborne  Priory,  259. 
Duncun,  Gunnorie,  269. 

Eagle-owl,  61. 
Eagles,  notes  of,  190. 
Earthquakes  of  1783,  233. 

Earthworms,  life  of,  173,  344;  promoters  of  vegetation,  172. 
Eastbourne,  wheatears  at,  135. 

ECHO,  a  polysyllabical  one,  178  ;  why  since  mute,  181 ;  several  remarks  on 
echoes,  178,  181 ;  a  charming  description  of  echoes  from  Lucretius,  181. 


INDEX  365 

ECHOES  occasioned  by  the  discharge  of  swivel  guns,  220. 

Eckmark,  on  migration  of  Grallae,  118. 

Editha,  queen  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  240,  241. 

Edriche  croft,  258. 

Edward  I.  and  Gurdon,  262. 

II.  in  Wolmer  Forest,  242. 

III.  at  Kingsley,  242. 

Eel,  25. 

Eels,  generation  of,  83. 

Eft,  see  Newt. 

Eggs  in  insect-larvae,  44. 

Eglintoun,  seat  of  Earl  of,  89. 

Ela  Longspee  (1281),  273. 

Elder,  dwarf,  186. 

Election  of  Prior  at  Selborne,  275,  284,  292,  293,  295,  297. 

Elk  or  moose  of  N.  America,  64,  65,  68. 

Elliot's  (house  at  Selborne),  265. 

Ellis,  on  mud-iguana,  41. 

Elm,  broad-leaved,  4. 

Elmer  the  game-painter,  20 ;  his  picture  of  hybrid  pheasant,  324. 

Elstede,  Richard,  284. 

Empedes  or  tipulas,  343. 

Emshot,  i. 

Endive  little  known  in  England  in  1663,  178. 

Entomology,  52,  75. 

Ephemera,  56,  339. 

Estates,  tenure  of  the  Selborne,  316. 

Etty,  Andrew,  vicar  of  Selborne,  256 ;  his  epitaph,  247. 

Eunuchs,  169. 

Evans  on  cuckoo's  eggs,  103  note. 

Eve-churr,  see  Mole-cricket. 

Eve-jarr,  see  Nightjar. 

Evergreen  leaves  imbibe  little,  163. 

Evergreens  and  frost,  222,  224,  228,  229. 

Evesham,  Gurdon  after  battle  of,  261. 

FAIR  AT  SELBORNE,  265  note,  316. 

Fairwise,  Thomas,  Prior  of  Selborne,  293,  294. 

Fairy-rings  in  turf,  353. 

FALCON,  peregrine,  particulars  about,  24,  26,  216. 

Fallow  deer,  in  the  Holt,  20 ;  never  seen  in  Wolmer-forest,  20 ;  cavities  in 

head  of,  32. 
Faringdon,  i. 
Fattening  in  frost,  104. 
Faunists,  119. 
Fawn  and  cows,  155. 
February  called  sprout-cale,  177. 
Fellwort  (gentian),  186. 
Females  which  devour  their  young,  124, 
Fens,  insufficiently  explored,  51. 
Fern-chafer  (Rhizotrogus),  77,  84,  329, 
Fern-owl,  see  Nightjar. 


366  INDEX 

Ferrol,  John,  253  note. 

Ffarnham,  Walter,  284. 

Field-cricket,  history  of,  196. 

Field-mouse,  with  young,  124  ;  its  mode  of  opening  a  nut,  214. 

FIELDFARES,  strange  that  they  do  not  breed  in  England,  60 ;  nor  in  Scotland, 
60 ;  roost  on  the  ground,  64. 

migration  of,  30,  96, 116 ;  perching  and  roosting  of,  96  ;  retire  in  spring, 

112  ;  breed  in  Sweden,  113;  nest  of,  113,  117;  food  of,  321. 

Fire-flies,  58  note. 

Firestone,  7. 

Fisher,  William,  vicar  of  Selborne,  253. 

FISHES,  gold  and  silver,  why  very  amusing  in  a  glass  bowl,  210. 

of  Wolmer  Forest,  18  ;  of  Selborne,  25. 

Flamingo,  compared  with  black-winged  stilt,  203. 

Fleas  in  sand-martins'  holes,  143. 

Flies,  plague  of,  in  1783,  233  ;  walking  of,  342. 

Flight  of  birds,  187;  of  insects,  200. 

Flocking  of  birds,  112,  119  ;  of  hen  chaffinches,  112  ;  of  linnets,  112  ;  of  rooks 
and  daws,  120;  of  rooks  and  starlings,  120. 

FLY,  bacon,  injurious  to  the  housewife,  74 ;  Whame  or  burrel,  Oestrus 
curvicauda,  74. 

FLY-CATCHER,  some  particulars  of,  22,  25,  37,  67,  86,  94,  123,  321. 

Fog  (dry),  of  1783,  232 ;  reflection  by,  355. 

Foliage  of  trees  lasting  late,  117. 

Folkestone  beds,  3  note,  8. 

Food  of  man,  183. 

Forest-fly,  127  ;  stone,  8. 

Forests,  and  water-supply,  163  ;  royal,  xxvii,  12,  241,  266  note. 

FORMS,  five,  respecting  the  chusing  a  prior,  275. 

Forrest,  on  flocks  of  starlings,  119  note. 

Fort  William,  89. 

Fossils  of  Selborne,  5. 

Fothergill  on  cultivation  in  England  of  shrubs  from  N.  America,  223. 

Fowler,  W.  Warde,  on  Gilbert  White,  vicar  of  Selborne,  ix ;  on  Sampson 
White,  ix  ;  on  Gilbert  White's  relations  to  his  college  and  the  church, 
xi  ;  on  White  and  protective  resemblance,  xxiii ;  on  White's  view  of 
the  migration  of  birds,  xxxi. 

Fowls,  108  ;  and  wasps,  321. 

Freestone  (upper  greensand),  2,  7. 

Freezing  of  fluids  in  capillary  tubes,  227  note. 

French,  prolix  in  natural  history,  68. 

Frinsham  pond,  79. 

Frogs,  39  ;  migrate  from  pools,  40  ;  Swammerdam  on,  40. 

FROST,  that  in  January,  1768,  described,  222  ;  that  in  January,  1776,  225, 
that  in  December,  1784,  228. 

birds  that  first  suffer  by,  104 ;  effect  of  in  fattening,  104  ;  protection  of 

shrubs  from,  222  ;  and  evergreens,  222,  224,  228,  229 ;  advances  gradu- 
ally, but  may  end  suddenly,  224 ;  and  rainfall,  225  ;  partial,  227,  353. 

Frostbites,  230. 

Frozen  sleet  and  rooks,  354. 

Fruit-trees  injured  by  heat,  231. 

Furze  killed  by  frost,  230 ;  range  of,  230  note. 


INDEX  367 

Gahn  on  common  grasses,  184  note. 

Gallinae,  gait  and  flight  of,  188 ;  roosting  high,  323. 

Galls  of  Lombardy  poplar,  349. 

Gaily  Hill,  315.     ' 

Gardens,  history  and  effects  of,  177. 

Gassendus,  on  effect  of  music,  214. 

Gault,  3  note. 

Gaveston,  242. 

Geese  and  ducks  rest  on  the  water,  323. 

Gentian,  autumnal,  186. 

Geoffroy,  xv. 

Geology  of  Selborne,  xxvii. 

GERMAN  SILK-TAIL,  garnilus  bohemicus,  shot,  27. 

Gibraltar,  natural  history  of,  x ;  birds  of,  71,  72  ;  migration  of  swifts  at,  149. 

Gipsies,  see  Gypsies. 

Glead  or  gled  (kite),  188. 

Glebe  of  Selborne,  265. 

Glow-worm,  57  note,  344. 

Gnats  on  snow,  321. 

Goats  breathing  through  their  ears,  Aristotle  on,  33. 

Goatsucker,  see  Nightjar. 

Godesfield,  270. 

Gold  and  silver  fishes,  210. 

Golden  thrushes,  114. 

Golden-crowned  wren,  does  not  migrate,  87,  95  ;  its  note,  98  ;  not  timid,  100. 

Goldfinch,  time  of  its  song,  98,  103. 

Goose  Green,  a  lodge  in  the  Holt,  20. 

Goose,  wild,  a  winter  bird  of  passage,  96  ;  flight  of,  189  ;  voice  of,  190. 

Gorfin,  Walter,  290. 

GOSSAMER,  a  wonderful  shower  of,  153. 

various  naturalists  on,  154. 

Gracious  Street,  315. 

Grallae,  migration  of,  118. 

GRANGE,  the,  belonging  to  Selborne  Priory,  315. 

Grange,  254,  313,  315. 

Grasses  neglected,  importance  of  their  study,  184. 

Grasshopper-lark,  its  note,  37  ;  a  summer  bird  of  passage,  38,  94  ;  its  arrival, 

67 ;  chirps  all  night,  83,  99. 
Gray,  the  poet,  xiv. 
Great  Ward  le  ham,  i. 
GREATHAM,  the  manor  farm  of,  its  privilege  in  Wolmer-Forest,  16. 

i,  12  ;  farms  of,  17. 

Grebe,  little,  flight  of,  189. 

Green  lizard,  42,  52. 

Greenfinch,  time  of  singing  of,  98 ;  its  gestures,  188. 

Greensand,  lower,  3  ;  upper,  2,  3,  7. 

Grimm,  the  artist,  264. 

Grosbeak,  25;  does  not  regularly  migrate,  96;  considerable  flocks  of,  no; 

food  of,  333. 

Grouse,  black,  in  Wolmer-forest,  13. 
Guernsey  lizard,  52. 
Guinea-fowl,  roosting  of,  323, 


368  INDEX 

GURDON,  SIR  ADAM,  who  and  what,  261 ;  where,  a  man  of  rank  and  property, 
261 ;  his  wives,  262  ;  builds  an  oratory  in  his  manor-house,  263  ;  grants 
the  Plestor  to  the  Priory  of  Selborne,  264  ;  becomes  warden  of  Wolmer- 
forest,  266 ;  a  distringas  against  him,  267 ;  enlists  troops  for  the  king, 
267  ;  his  advanced  age,  268  ;  his  seal  and  arms,  268  ;  seems  to  have  had 
no  concern  with  the  Knights  Templars,  272. 

bailiff  of  Alton,  261  f. 

Gurdon-manor,  265,  316. 

Gyfford,  W.,  304. 

GYPSIES,  some  particulars  about,  156. 

Haggard  falcon,  see  Peregrine  falcon. 

HAILSTORM  at  Selborne  in  summer  1784,  234. 

Hales,  Dr.  Stephen,  xii,  xv ;  quoted,  12  note,  154  note,  164,  224  note,  231 
note. 

Halyborne,  Thomas,  284. 

Hamilton,  89. 

Hammond,  John,  rector  of  Hetlegh,  290. 

Hampshire  meanly  furnished  with  churches,  49 ;  manufacture  of  rushlights 
in,  158. 

HANGER,  the,  i. 

Hard-billed  and  soft-billed  birds,  69. 

Hares,  white  or  Scotch,  61 ;  species  of,  61  note  ;  in  snowy  weather,  226. 

Harteley  Mauduit,  i. 

Harting,  his  edition  of  White's  Selborne,  xxx ;  on  whinchat,  81  note;  on 
food  of  woodcock,  101  note;  on  cuckoo,  103  note ;  on  great  bustard, 
no  note ;  on  migration  of  hawks,  114  note ;  on  duck  found  at  Trotton, 
116  note;  on  grosbeak,  333  note. 

Harvest-bug,  73. 

mouse,  23  and  note;  description  of,  27  ;  further  particulars  of,  31 ;  pre- 
hensile tail  of,  32  note;  name  for,  35;  devoured  by  dogs,  refused  by 
cats,  84. 

HASEL  WYCH,  4. 

Hasselquist  on  short-winged  birds  in  the  channel,  31 ;  on  migration  of  black- 
winged  stilt,  203. 

Hawfinch,  see  Grosbeak. 

HAWK,  SPARROW,  the  dread  of  housewives,  90. 

breeding  in  old  crows'  nests,  83  ;  killed  by  brood-hens,  192. 

Hawkley,  closes  in,  255  ;  (Hocheleye),  267. 

HAWKLEY-HANGER,  the  amazing  fall  thereof,  194. 

Hawks,  castings  of,  25;  migration  of,  114  note;  and  swallows,  138;  and 
swifts,  148;  and  cuckoos,  151  and  note ;  spring  migration  of,  151  note; 
notes  of,  190 ;  seizing  of  prey  by,  326. 

Haws,  failure  of,  28 ;  food  for  birds,  28. 

HAZE,  or  smokey  fog,  the  peculiar  one  which  prevailed  in  summer  1783,  232. 

Heat  in  March,  effects  of,  173. 

HEATH-FIRES,  why  lighted  up,  16. 

Hedge-sparrow,  83  ;  its  food  in  winter,  87  ;  does  not  migrate,  95  ;  its  time  of 
singing,  97 ;  and  cuckoo,  104. 

HEDGEHOG,  some  account  of,  63. 

Hedlegh,  i,  12. 

HELIOTROPES,  summer  and  winter,  how  to  make  them,  192. 


INDEX  369 

Hellebores,  185  ;  flowering  of,  186. 

Helleborine,  186. 

Hemp  seed,  its  effect  on  plumage  of  bullfinch,  34,  81. 

Hen,  sitting  on  a  shapeless  stone,  104 ;  parental  care  of,  123  ;  notes  of,  191  ; 

and  ducklings,  334. 

Hen-harrier  breeds  on  the  ground,  83  ;  flight  of,  188 ;  and  pheasant,  326. 
Henry  III.  grants  lands  to  Selborne  Priory,  259. 

de  Blois,  270. 

Herbert  on  drumming  of  snipe,  81  note. 

HERISSANT,  MONSIEUR,  mistaken  in  his  reason  why  cuckoos  do  not  use 

incubation,  166. 
Hermaphrodite  animals,  345. 
Heron,  flight  of,  188. 
Heronry  at  Cressi  Hall,  50,  52. 
Hibernation   in  holes,   not  practised  by  sand-martin,    143  ;    (supposed)  of 

swallows  and  other  birds,  xviii,  xxxi  to  xxxiv,  21,  28,  29,  53,  78,  114, 

121,  136,  174,  213,  216,  330, 331,  332  ;  of  insects,  reptiles  and  quadrupeds, 

174. 

Hills,  walking,  and  travelling  mountains,  194. 
Hippobosca  of  swallow,  127  ;  of  swift,  149,  150,  207. 
HIRUNDINES,  BRITISH,  when  they  arrived  in  three  very  distant  counties,  151. 

history  of  the  British,  127  f.  ;  number  of  broods  of,  148. 

Hirundo  rupestris,  71. 

Hoadly,  Bishop,  refuses  to  restock  Waltham  chase,  15. 

Hochangre,  see  Oakhanger. 

Hogmer,  18. 

HOGS,  would  live,  if  suffered,  to  a  considerable  age,  170. 

Hollow  lanes,  8. 

HOLT,  AYLES,  a  royal  forest ;  some  account  of,  xxvii,  19,  20,  266  note. 

perambulation  of,  17  ;  measured,  17  note  ;  lop  and  top  of,  20. 

Holt,  Anne,  mother  of  Gilbert  White,  ix. 

Thomas,  rector  of  Streatham,  ix. 

Holy  Ghost  Chapel  at  Basingstoke,  destruction  of,  314. 
Honey-buzzard,  nest,  description  and  food  of,  89 ;  name  of,  321. 

dew,  231  and  note,  355  ;   Hooker  on,  232  note. 

Hoopoes,  24. 

Hops,  soil  good  for,  3,  350;  aphides  on,  210. 

Horn-room  at  Wilton,  69. 

Horse  and  hen  keeping  company,  155. 

a  dying,  334. 

Horse-bot,  74. 

Horses  attacked  by  epidemic  during  frost  of  1768,  223  ;  poisoned  by  yew,  250. 

Horticulture,  progress  and  effects  of,  177. 

Hot  summers  of  1781  and  1783,  230  ;  and  wheat-crops,  352. 

Hounds,  the  king's,  335. 

HOUSE,  vicarage,  at  Selborne,  249. 

House-cricket,  see  Cricket. 

dove  derived  from  rock-dove,  91. 

flies,  342. 

martin,  see  Martin. 

sparrow,  see  Sparrow. 

Howe,  General,  19. 

24 


370  INDEX 

HOWE,  GENERAL,  turns  out  wild  boars  in  Holt-forest,  20. 

Ruperta,  daughter  of  Prince  Rupert,  19. 

Hudson,  xiv,  xv. 

Humming  of  snipes,  38  ;  in  the  air,  336. 

bird  hawk-moth,  340. 

Hunter,  John,  xiii ;  on  glands  of  head  of  deer,  32  note. 

Hunting  forbidden  to  canons  of  Selborne,  279. 

Huntingdonshire,  spires  of,  50. 

Husband,  David,  304. 

HUXHAM,  DR.,  his  account  of  rain  at  Plymouth,  220. 

"  Hybernaculum  "  of  martins,  78. 

Hybrid  pheasant,  324. 

Hyde,  minister  in  Winchester,  270. 

Hylling,  John,  Vicar  of  Newton  Valence,  290. 

Ice,  spicules  of,  in  air,  229. 

Ichneumon  and  spider,  341. 

Idiot  addicted  to  bees,  160. 

Ila,  Lord,  a  promoter  of  horticulture,  177. 

Indian  grass,  52. 

Inkforbye,  William,  vicar  of  Selborne,  253. 

Insect-larvae  full  of  eggs,  44. 

Insects,  noxious,  75  ;  torpid,  174 ;  hearing  of,  180 ;  frisking  immediately 
after  severe  frost,  227  ;  and  birds  of  prey,  321,  322  ;  in  winter,  335  ;  at 
night,  335  ;  wood-boring,  336. 

INSTINCT,  sometimes  varies  and  conforms  to  circumstances,  214  ;  often  per- 
fectly uniform,  214. 

in  animals,  a  limited  faculty,  139  ;  early,  169 ;  discussion  on,  213  ;  of 

partridge,  323. 

Internal  migration  of  birds,  in. 

Irby  on  migration  of  swifts  at  Gibraltar,  149  note. 

IRELAND,  why  worthy  the  attention  of  a  naturalist,  88. 

Israelites,  leprosy  among,  175. 

Italy,  climate  of,  in  ancient  and  modern  times,  105. 

Ivy,  its  leaves  condense  very  fast,  163  ;  its  berries,  322,  350. 

Jackals  and  lions,  120. 

Jackdaws  nesting  in  Stonehenge,  48  ;  building  underground,  48,  49  ;  walking 

of,  1 88. 
Jacobus  de  Achangre,  258. 

de  Nortun,  258. 

Jamaica,  birds  of,  108. 
JAR-BIRD,  what,  38. 

see  Nuthatch. 

Jay,  flight  of,  188. 
Jenkyn,  Richard  ap,  294. 
Jenner  on  cuckoo,  103  note. 
Jews,  lenders  of  money,  259. 

JOHANNA,  daughter  and  heiress  of  Sir  A.  Gurdon,  grants  lands  and  tenements 

to  the  Priory,  269. 
John  de  Venur,  or  Venuz,  260. 

King,  at  Ward-le-Ham,  242. 

Johnson,  Dr.,  on  the  "  black  spring  "  of  1771,  356. 


INDEX  371 

Ken,  Morris,  amuses  Edward  II.,  242. 

Kestrel,  its  breeding-places,  83  ;  its  flight,  188. 

Kew  Gardens,  xiv. 

King  John's  Hill,  17. 

Kingfisher,  flight  of,  188. 

King's  staghounds,  335. 

Kingsley,  242,  266  note. 

Kite,  migration  of,  114  ;  flight  of,  188;  picking  up  ants,  322. 

Kite's  Hill,  315. 

Knights  Hospitalers,  269  note. 

KNIGHTS  TEMPLARS,  had  considerable  property  at  Selborne,  269  ;  lived  in  a 

mutual  intercourse  of  good  offices  with  the  Priory,  271. 
symbol  of,  245  ;  supposed  graves  of,  245  ;  arms  of,  263  ;  account 

of,  269  note ;  rules  of,  279  note. 
Knowles,  Thomas,  307. 
Krakatoa,  eruption  of,  233  note. 
Kramer,  his  Elenchus,  71  ;  on  woodcock,  113. 
Kuckalm  on  birds  of  Jamaica,  108. 

La  liega  or  La  lyge,  the  site  of  Selborne  Priory,  258. 

Lacuna,  Guylleryde,  295. 

Ladies'  traces,  186. 

Lakes  of  Wolmer-forest,  17  ;  wild  fowl  of,  25. 

Lampern,  25. 

Landrail,  a  summer  bird  of  passage,  38  ;  its  note,  94  ;  account  of,  324. 

Landslips,  194. 

Landsprings,  see  Lavants. 

LANES,  hollow,  rocky,  their  peculiarities,  8  ;  abound  with  filices,  9. 

LANGELANDE,  ROBERT,  severe  on  the  religious,287. 

Langley,  Radolphus,  301. 

LANGRISH,  NICHOLAS,  who  had  been  a  chantry  priest,  sent  by  Magdalen 

College  to  celebrate  mass  at  the  dissolved  Priory  of  Selborne,  307,  274, 

note. 

Lapwing,  haunts  and  congregating  of,  81 ;  and  starlings,  120. 
LARKS,  white,  probably  snow-flakes  [Snow  Bunting],  34 ;  grasshopper,  some 

curious  circumstances  about,  37,  83  ;  (see  Grasshopper  Lark). 

flocking  of,  112  ;  their  walk,  189. 

Larvae  of  insects,  full  of  eggs,  44 ;  injury  caused  by,  173. 

Lathyrus,  wild,  186. 

Laurel,  spurge,  186. 

Lavants,  of  Sussex,  Hampshire  and  Wiltshire,  141. 

Le  Buri,  308  note. 

Leaves,  casting  of,  346;  renovation  of,  117,  348. 

Legge,  H.  B.,  19. 

Legs  of  black-winged  stilt  and  flamingo,  203  ;  of  colymbi  and  mergi,  327. 

Leicester  House  museum,  6. 

Lemyngton,  John,  284. 

LEPER,  a  miserable  one  in  this  village,   175. 

LEPROSY,  why  probably  less  common  than  of  old,  176. 

Lessees  of  the  Crown,  266  note, 

Lever,  Sir  Ashton,  his  museum,  6  note. 

LEVERET,  suckled  by  a  cat,  171. 


372  INDEX 

Lewes,  ring  ousels  near,  79. 

Lice  and  birds,  127. 

Licenses  for  oratories,  263. 

Liega,  la,  308  note. 

Lime-blossoms,  350. 

Lincecum  on  gossamer,  154  note. 

Lincolnshire,  spires  of,  50. 

Linnaeus,  x,  xiii,  xv;  on  water-vole,  23  ;  on  chaffinch,  29;  on  water-eft,  41 ; 
on  verbosity,  68 ;  on  range  of  plants,  84 ;  on  cuckoo,  109  ;  on  nesting 
of  fieldfare  and  redwing,  113  ;  on  hawks  and  cuckoo,  151 ;  compedes  of, 
189,  327;  on  goldfish,  211;  on  crickets  and  cockroaches,  337;  on  cock- 
roach, 338  note. 

LINNETS,  congregate  and  chirp,  30. 

Linnet,  song  of,  98,  103  ;  flocking  of,  112. 

Lions  and  jackals,  120. 

Lisle  on  loss  of  boar's  tusks,  170. 

Liss,  see  Lysse. 

Lister  on  gossamer,  154. 

Lithe,  or  Lythe,  258. 

Liveries  of  religious  houses,  280. 

Living  of  Selborne,  252. 

Lizards,  green,  at  Farnham,  42 ;  in  Devonshire  and  Surrey,  50 ;  green  and 
Guernsey,  52 ;  which  lived  in  a  college  garden,  52. 

LOACHES  from  Ambresbury,  43. 

Lodge  Hill,  17. 

Lombardy  poplar,  galls  of,  349. 

London,  martins  in,  131 ;  swallows  in,  139  ;  sand-martins  in,  144  ;  swifts  in, 
150  ;  in  snowy  weather,  226  ;  "  London  smoke,"  354. 

London,  Hugh,  284. 

Thomas,  291,  293,  295. 

Long  Lithe,  258. 

Long,  Barnabas,  vicar  of  Selborne,  254. 

William,  292. 

Long-billed  birds  fattening  in  frosts,  104. 

LONGSPEE,  ELA,  founds  a  chantry  at  Selborne,  273  ;  who  and  what,  274,  275 
note. 

Longworth,  John,  vicar  of  Selborne,  253. 

Loon,  326. 

Lop  and  top  of  the  Holt  forest,  20. 

Losel's  wood,  4. 

Love,  in  birds,  112. 

Lower  greensand,  3  note. 

Lyge,  la,  308  note. 

Lyndewood's  Provinciate,  282. 

Lynne,  John,  vicar  of  Selborne,  252,  285. 

Lysse,  i,  12. 

Lythe  or  Lithe,  258. 

Magdalen  College,  Oxford,  holds  patronage  of  Selborne,  252,  265  ;  foundation 
of,  301  f. ;  Selborne  Priory  appropriated  to,  302,  306, 311,  313  ;  courts  held 
at  Selborne  by,  315. 

Magpie,  flight  of,  188  ;  and  missel-thrush,  322. 


INDEX  373 

Mahomet  on  purification,  109. 

Makerel,  Thomas,  263. 

MALM,  black,  what  sort  of  soil,  2  ;  ditto,  white,  3. 

Man,  his  food  varies  with  climate,  183. 

MARCH,  the  month  of,  two  wonderfully  hot  days  in  March,  1777 ;  the  effects 
of  that  heat,  173. 

Marcley  Hill  a  deceitful  ground,  194. 

Market  at  Selborne,  265. 

Markwick's  Calendar  and  Observations,  319  note. 

Marsh,  cinquefoil,  185. 

Marsham  of  Stratton,  347. 

MARTIN,  HOUSE,  seen  very  late,  49 ;  house,  a  monography  of,  128;  sand  or 
bank,  a  monography  of,  141 ;  house,  farther  circumstances  about,  206 ; 
house,  more  particulars  concerning,  212. 

nest  of,  129,  214  ;  late  departures  of,  25,  28,  49,  78,  212  ;  late  broods  of,  81, 

212  ;  late  arrival  of,  67, 84  ;  a  summer  bird  of  passage,  38, 94  ;  migration  of, 
xxxv,  22,  53,  77,  78,  in  ;  young  of,  22  ;  feeding  of  young  of,  70;  perse- 
cuted by  sparrows,  67,  129  ;  mating  of,  67  ;  its  note,  99  ;  flies  with  other 
birds,  22  ;  search  for  torpid,  206  ;  secret  dormitories  of,  213. 

sand,  a  summer  migrant,  38,  94  ;  history  of,  141 ;  flight  of,  189  ;  holes 

of,  searched  in  March,  330. 

POPE,  his  bull  touching  the  revoking  of  certain  things  alienated  from 

the  Priory  of  Selborne,  286. 

Mating  of  birds,  67. 

Mauduit-hatch,  17. 

Mauduit's  wood,  258. 

May-fly,  56,  339. 

Maycock,  Sampson,  285. 

Mayewe,  Richard,  302,  306. 

Mazel,  the  engraver,  43. 

Meadow-pipit,  or  titlark,  song  of,  80  and  note,  97  ;  cuckoo  in  nest  of,  116. 

Melolontha  fullo,  54. 

Memory,  comparing  animals  by,  71. 

MERCATU,  de,  et  feria  de  Seleburne,  a  mistake  in  Bishop  Tanner,  316. 

Merton  College,  a  haunt  of  swallows,  53. 

Meteor,  White's  use  of  the  word,  225  note. 

Mezereon,  186. 

MICE,  small  red,  nondescript,  27 ;  one  of  their  nests  described,  27 ;  some 
farther  account  of,  31. 

(harvest  mice),  devoured  by  dogs,  refused  by  cats,  84. 

Midges,  swarms  of,  343. 

MIGRATION,  actual,  somewhat.like  it,  53  ;  at  Gibraltar,  ocular  demonstration 
of,  115. 

of  redwing,  113,  116,  118;  of  fieldfare,  60,  112,  113,  116;  of  ring  ousel, 

47,  49,  50,  58,  60,  69,  78,  no,  116,  135  ;  of  redstart,  106  ;  of  wheatear,  30, 
134  ;  of  nightingale,  116,  134  ;  of  whitethroat,  106, 134  ;  of  blackcap,  104, 
106,134;  of  sedge-warbler,  1 06  ;  of  oriole,  114;  of  flycatcher,  86,  106 ;  of 
swallow,  29,  53,  106,  in,  131,  136,  151,  331 ;  of  swallow,  Adanson  on, 
80;  of  swallow,  doubted,  174  ;  swallows  in  hiding,  22  ;  swallows  haunting 
water,  216 ;  of  swallows  and  martins,  53,  77  ;  of  martin,  77,  78,  84,  in, 
114,  128,  130,  131,  144,  174,  206,  212,  331 ;  of  sand-martin,  144,331  ;  of 
hirundines,  114,  134,  151,  175  ;  of  chaffingh,  30  ;  of  snow-bunting,  61 ;  of 


374  INDEX 

Royston  crow,  116;  of  swift,  77,  81,  145,  148,  182;  of  bee-bird,  114;  of 
hoopoe,  114  ;  of  stockdove,  80  ;  of  stone  curlew,  47,  48,  49,  72,  73,  328  ; 
of  black-winged  stilt,  203;  of  woodcock,  112,  113,  115,  116;  of  grallse, 
118;  White's  views  on,  xxxi,  114;  Aristotle  on,  xxxii ;  Harrington's 
views  on,  xviii,  114;  Belon  on  migration  of  hawks  and  kites,  114; 
Eckmarck  on,  118  ;  Hasselquist  on  migration  of  short-winged  birds,  31 ; 
of  short-winged,  soft-billed  birds,  29;  at  Gibraltar,  115;  to  and  from 
Andalusia,  72, 114,  115,  149,  204  ;  delayed  by  severe  spring,  106;  numbers 
of  birds  leaving  and  returning,  183;  internal  migration,  in  ;  lists  of 
summer  migrants,  38,  94;  list  of  winter  migrants,  95. 

Military  orders  of  the  religious,  269  note. 

Mill  at  Durton,  310;  at  Oakhanger,  310;  at  Selborne,  310. 

MILLS,  water,  the  Priory  of  Selborne  in  possession  of  several,  310. 

Missel-thrush,  its  nest,  80 ;  its  autumn  song,  83  note ;  its  song,  98 ;  its  pug- 
nacity, 151 ;  its  flight,  189  ;  its  broods  destroyed  by  magpies,  322  ;  feeds 
on  berries  of  mistletoe  and  ivy,  322. 

Mist  called  "  London  smoke,"  354. 

Mitford's  edition  of  White's  Selborne,  xxx. 

Mole,  preyed  upon  by  weasel,  83. 

Mole-cricket,  history  of,  201. 

Moll's  map  of  Scotland,  89. 

Monasteries  encouragers  of  knowledge,  177  note  ;  corruptions  of,  287  ;  trades 
and  occupations  of,  309  ;  and  towns,  316. 

Monastic  institutions,  growth  of,  260. 

Monogamous  birds,  67. 

Monographers,  70,  108. 

Montford,  Simon  de,  at  battle  of  Evesham,  261. 

Moorhen,  flight  of,  189. 

MOOSE-DEER,  a  female,  some  account  of,  65  ;  a  male,  where  killed,  68. 

in  North  America,  68. 

Mordaunt,  of  the  Peterborough  family,  19. 

Morning  clouds,  355. 

MORTON,  JOHN,  prior  of  Reygate,  appointed  prior  of  Selborne,  292. 

Mosquitoes,  devoured  by  swallows,  127. 

Mostyn,  Sir  Roger,  house-doves  of,  91. 

Moulting  of  birds,  season  of,  148. 

Mount  Caburn,  340. 

Mulso,  Hester,  xii. 

MUSEUM,  countryman's,  where,  24. 

Music,  its  powerful  effects  on  some  men's  minds,  214. 

Mussulmans,  purification  of,  109. 

MYTILUS  CRISTA  GALLI,  a  curious  fossil-shell,  5. 

Natele,  260. 

Natural  History  of  the  Year,  235. 

Naturalist's  Calendar,  xiii,  xxix,  319  note. 

summer-evening  walk,  56. 

Journal,  xiii,  48  note. 

Nele,  John,  304. 

Nests  of  harvest-mouse,  27,  31 ;  of  water  rat,  62  ;  of  ring-ousel,  80  ;  of  house 
sparrow,  84  ;  of  flycatcher,  86,  123  ;  of  honey-buzzard,  89  ;  of  sparrow- 
hawk,  90;  of  ring-dove,  91 ;  of  fieldfare,  113,  117  ;  of  redwing,  113;  of 


INDEX  375 

woodcock,  113;  of  willow-wren,  124 ;  of  white  owl,  125  ;  of  house-martin, 
128,  131,  140;  of  wheatear,  134;  of  swallow,  136,  139,  140;  of  sand- 
martin,  142,  330;  of  swift,  145;  of  missel-thrush,  152;  of  chaffinch, 
wren  and  martin,  214;  of  rook,  322;  of  thrush,  322  ;  of  wasps,  341. 

Newhaven,  water-ousel  at,  no. 

Newlyn,  Henry,  308. 

NEWT,  or  eft,  water,  some  account  of,  41,  44. 

great  crested,  47. 

Newton  Valence,  i ;  and  Selborne,  relative  heights  of,  221. 

Newton,  Prof.  Alfred,  his  Life  of  Gilbert  White,  ix  note ;  on  White  and 
Hester  Mulso,  xii ;  his  notes  to  Bell's  edition  of  White's  Selborne,  xxx  ; 
his  Dictionary  of  Birds,  art.  Migration,  xxxi  note  ;  on  woodcock  carrying 
its  young,  70  note ;  on  cuckoo,  103  note  ;  on  peregrine  falcon,  216  note  ; 
on  hen-harrier,  326  note. 

Nich.  de  Cantia,  299,  300. 

Nightingale,  a  summer  migrant,  38,  94 ;  cry  of,  82 ;  sings  in  the  night,  96  ; 
silent  by  middle  of  June,  98;  range  in  Britain,  116;  song  of,  118;  ill 
provided  for  long  flights,  134. 

Nightjar,  a  summer  migrant,  38,  94  ;  its  manners,  51,  52,  329;  food  of,  77, 
85,  168,  329;  structure- of,  168  ;  flight  of,  188  ;  serenade  of,  190;  its 
name  of  goatsucker,  328  ;  and  puckeridge,  328. 

Noctule  described  by  Daubenton  and  Buffon,  xiv,  26  note  ;  supposed  by  White 
to  be  nondescript,  51 ;  its  mode  of  life,  62,  63  ;  its  structure,  76. 

NOREHILL,  2. 

Norfolk  meanly  furnished  with  churches,  49. 

Norman  kings  resided  much  at  Winchester,  242. 

North  America,  forests  and  lakes  of,  163. 

Northamptonshire,  spires  of,  50. 

Norton,  260;  farm,  4,  316. 

Nose-fly,  341. 

Nostoc,  353. 

Notitia  Monastica  of  Tanner  quoted,  311. 

Nun,  see  Titmouse. 

Nuthatch,  or  jarbird,  its  noise,  38  ;  its  mode  of  opening  a  nut,  214. 

OAK,  a  vast  one  planted  on  the  Plestor,  4. 

great,  in  the  Holt,  347. 

Oakhanger,  10, 17,  260,  309  ;  House,  254,  258,  316  ;  Jacobus  de,  258,  310 ;  mill 

at,  310. 

Oaks  of  Losel's  wood,  4. 
Oakwoods,  17. 

Observations  on  various  parts  of  nature,  319. 
OEstrus,  74. 

Oglethorpe,  Owen,  307,  315  note. 
Oil  a  remedy  for  bite  of  viper,  41. 
Olaus  Magnus  on  migration  of  birds,  xxxii. 
One-berry,  185. 
Oppian  quoted,  33. 
Orme's  Head,  pigeons  on,  92. 
Oseney,  275. 

OSPREY,  or  sea-eagle,  where  shot,  79^ 
Ostrea  carinata,  6  note. 


376  INDEX 

Ostrea  crista-galli,  6  note. 

OTTER,  one,  where  killed,  68. 

Ottobonus,  constitutions  of  Legate,  282. 

Ousel,  see  Ring-ousel. 

Outlet  explained,  24  note,  192  note. 

Owen  on  glands  of  head  of  deer,  32  note. 

OWL,  brown,  a  tame  one,  25  ;  white  or  barn  owl,  the  young  not  easily  bred 

up,  25. 
OWLS  hoot  in  different  keys,  117  ;  white,  several  particulars  of,  125. 

young,  food  of,   25  ;    eagle-owl,   61  ;   mating  of,  67  ;  infesting   dove- 
houses,  67  ;  hooting   and  screaming  of,   117,   126,  190  ;  prey  of,  125  ; 
plumage,  casts,  flight,  eyes  of,  126  ;  can  live  without  water,  126. 

Ox-eye  (titmouse),  98. 

Oxen  will  not  fatten  alone,  155  ;  and  horses  poisoned  by  yew,  250. 
Oxford,  great  benefactress  to  the  university  of,  275  ;  Guernsey  lizard  at,  52  ; 
swallows  stay  late  at,  25,  53. 

Pairing  of  birds,  67. 

Palm  Sunday,  252. 

PARADISE  OF  SELBORNE  PRIORY,  308. 

Gardens,  Oxford,  325. 

Parental  care  of  animals,  123  ;  of  field-mouse,  124. 

Paris,  herb,  185. 

Parrots  use  their  bill  as  a  third  foot,  188. 

Particular,  White's  use  of,  64  note. 

Partridges,  mating  of,  67  ;  dust  themselves,  108  ;  roosting  of,  323  ;  artifice 

of,  123  ;  thinned  by  frost,  228. 
Passeres,  melody  of,  190. 
Paynell,  William,  alias  Stretford,  291. 
PEACOCKS,  their  train  not  a  tail,  75,  107  note. 

notes  of,  190. 

Penkester,  John,  285. 

Pennant,  Thomas,  life  of,  xv  ;  on  slits  beneath  eyes  of  antelopes,  33  note  ;  his 

British  Zoology,  60,  107. 
Peregrine  falcon,  24,  26,  216,  326  note. 
Periwinkle,  less,  185. 

Peter  de  la  Roche,  founder  of  Selborne  Priory,  256. 
PETTICHAPS,  a  very  rare  bird  at  Selborne,  215. 
Peverell,  Robert,  295. 
Peyrson,  Miles,  vicar  of  Selborne,  253. 

Pheasant,  roosting  of,  323  ;  hybrid,  324  ;  and  hen-harrier,  326. 
Pheasants  dust  themselves,  108. 
Phillips,  John,  on  Marcley  Hill,  194. 
Phippes,  Thomas,  vicar  of  Selborne,  253. 
Piers  Plowman,  visions  of,  287. 
Pigeon,  drinking  of,  84 ;  derived  from  rock-dove,  91  ;  internal  migration  of, 

92  ;  clashing  of  wings  of,  188. 
Pigs  eating  their  young,  124. 

Pipistrelle  flies  in  every  month  in  the  year,  174  note. 
Pitch  of  note  of  owl,  cuckoo,  nightingale,  swift,  etc.,  117-8, 
Pittancies  of  a  monastery,  280. 
PLANTS,  the  more  rare  in  Selborne,  185, 


INDEX  377 

Plants,  time  of  blooming  of,  186. 

PLESTOR,  the,  in  the  midst  of  the  village,  what,  4,  264,  265,  266. 

shrew-ash  on,  162. 

Plot,  Dr.,  on  surbedding  stone  ;  on  firestone,  7  note  ;  his  rule  for  echoes,  179. 

PLOVER,  the  stilt,  a  rare  and  curious  bird,  202. 

Plumage,  colour  of,  affected  by  food,  34. 

Plumpton-plain,  near  Lewes,  Ray  on,  132. 

Pochard,  a  resident  and  winter  visitant,  96  note. 

POND,  WOLMER,  its  measurement,  fowls,  etc.,  18. 

PONDS  on  elevations,  why  seldom  dry,  164. 

named  after  extinct  animals,  18  note. 

frequented  by  cattle,  18. 

Pope  Innocent  VIII.,  bull  of,  305  ;  Martin,  bull  of,  286. 
PORCH,  CHURCH,  its  gothic  arch  and  folding-doors,  248. 
Portugal  laurels  untouched  by  frost,  224,  228,  229  note  ;  scorched  by  frost  of 

1784,  229. 

Poultry,  sagacity  of,  323  ;  roosting  of,  323. 
Powlet,  of  Rotherfield  House,  265. 
PRECEPTORY,  an  unnoticed  one  at  Selborne,  270 ;  an  attempt  to  explain  what 

a  preceptory  was,  272. 
Preston,  James,  302  to  305. 
Prince  Rupert,  a  mechanic  and  artist,  19. 
Prior,  forms  for  election  of,  275. 
Priories,  alien,  259,  260. 
PRIORS  OF  SELBORNE,  a  list  of,  299,  300. 
PRIORY  OF  SELBORNE,  when  and  by  whom  founded,  256  ;  how  endowed  at 

first,  259  ;  its  present  state,  313. 

reduced  to  a  chantry,  307. 

farm,  254,  313. 

Protective  resemblance  of  stone-curlew,  xxiii,  36,  73,  107  note. 

Ptinus,  336. 

Puckeridge,  328. 

Puffins,  building  underground,  48. 

Purlieu,  17. 

Putworth,  Richard,  284. 

Quadrupeds,  Observations  on,  333. 
>uails,  9  ;  on  south  coast,  30. 
>ueen  Anne  in  Wolmer-forest,  14. 
IUEEN'S  BANK,  why  so  called,  14. 
Quicksilver  mines  of  Carniola,  106. 

Rabbits  and  turf,  334. 

Rabbys,  William,  304. 

Radfredus  the  presbyter,  243. 

Radiation  of  heat  under  a  clear  sky,  224  note. 

Ragstone,  7. 

RAIN,  the  mean  of,  not  to  be  ascertained  at  any  place  till  after  many  years, 

9  note ;  what  has  fallen  at  Selborne  of  late  years,  9  ;  that  of  Selborne 

compared  with  that  of  Plymouth,  220. 
Rainfall  of  1769,  52  ;  of  1774  and  1764,   141 ;  of  spring  of  1774,   194 ;  of 

Rutland,  113. 


378  INDEX 

Ranatra,  339. 

Range  of  animals,  84 ;  of  plants,  84. 

RAT,  WATER,  a  curious  anecdote  concerning  one,  62. 

Raven  breeds  early,  99;  playful  skirmish  of,  188 ;  note  of,  190;  raven- 
tree,  5. 

Ravens  on  rock  of  Gibraltar,  123. 

Ray,  John,  xiii,  xiv,  xv,  xxv ;  on  slitting  the  nostrils  of  asses,  33  ;  on  lizards, 
42 ;  on  lizards  of  Ireland,  43  ;  on  sedge-warbler,  59  ;  on  pulveratrices, 
108 ;  his  descriptions,  119;  on  the  South  Downs,  132;  on  celery  and 
endive  in  Italy,  178;  on  honey-buzzard,  321;  and  Derham's  use  of  the 
word  meteor,  225. 

Reading,  carp  at,  85. 

Reaumur,  xiii,  xiv;  on  Hippobosca,  128;  on  honey-dew,  231  note;  on 
Tortrix,  339  note. 

Red-backed  Butcher-bird,  46. 

RED-BREASTS,  why  supposed  to  sing  in  autumn  only,  84. 

food  of,  84 ;  do  not  migrate,  their  food  and  haunts,  95  ;  sing  all  the 

year,  97,  100 ;  in  a  cage,  101 ;  hatches  cuckoo's  egg,  102 ;  nests  early, 
99  note. 

Red-deer,  see  Deer. 

RED-START,  its  singularities,  85. 

in  September,  25 ;  song  of,  37,  85  ;  a  summer  migrant,  38,  94,  321 ; 

flicker  of  tail  of,  83 ;  song  ceases  in  June,  98 ;  ill-provided  for  long 
flights,  134. 

RED-WINGS,  the  first  birds  that  suffer  by  frost,  104,  118. 

taken  in  hedges  by  bat-fowlers,  64;  winter  migrants,  96,  116,  118; 

place  of  nesting,  112;  nest  and  eggs,  113  ;  in  severe  weather,  113,  321. 

Reed-bunting,  106  note. 

"  Reed-sparrow,"  104,  106. 

Reflection  by  fog,  355. 

Register,  Beaufort's,  283,  285  ;  Waynflete's,  290  f. 

Reid,  Clement,  on  dew-ponds,  166  note. 

RELICS  belonging  to  the  Priory  of  Selborne,  289. 

Religious  houses,  distresses  of,  283 ;  corruptions  of,  287 ;  prediction  con- 
cerning, 288. 

Rennie's  edition  of  White's  Selborne,  xxx. 

Reptiles  of  Selborne,  39,  42  note. 

Richard,  bishop  of  Chichester,  259. 

Ring-dove,  mode  of  life  of,  91  ;  young  of,  93  ;  breeding  of,  99,  117;  cuckoo 
in  nest  of,  102  ;  in  spring,  188  ;  food  of,  325. 

RING-OUSEL,  where  found,  28 ;  more  particulars  of,  46 ;  farther  account  of, 
54 ;  more  of  ditto,  58  ;  breed  in  Dartmoor  and  the  Peak  of  Derby,  70,  80 ; 
farther  remarks  concerning,  78,  79. 

food  of,  28,  47,  54 ;  a  flock  of,  in  Hampshire,  46  ;  internal  migration  of, 

46,  47,  49,  50,  54,  58,  60,  69,  78,  95,  no,  116,  135  ;  on  Sussex  Downs, 
no. 

Ringmer,  near  Lewes,  108  note  ;  birds  of,  no. 

Roads  to  Selborne,  xxvi  and  note,  255. 

Rock-dove,  91. 

"  Rockiers,"  92. 

Rocky  lane,  8. 

Rogate,  i,  12,, 


INDEX  379 

Roger,  vicar  of  Selborne,  252. 

Roman  coins  found  in  Wolmer-pond,  239 ;  at  Blackmoor,  240  note. 

ROOKS,  perfectly  white,  34 ;  an  amusing  anecdote  about,  219. 

breed  early,  99 ;  attended  by  daws  and  starlings,  120,  135  ;  sensitive 

beak  of,  120;  excursions  of,  135  ;  tumbling  of,  188  ;  attempts  to  sing  of, 
190 ;  evening  proceedings  of,  219  ;  in  snowy  weather,  226  ;  mode  of  life 
of,  322 ;  and  frozen  sleet,  354. 

Rookery  at  Ringmer,  135. 

Roosting  of  poultry,  turkeys,  etc.,  323. 

Royston  crow,  internal  migration  of,  96,  116. 

Rupert,  Prince,  19  and  note. 

RUPERTA,  whose  daughter  and  wife,  19. 

RUPIBUS,  or  Roche,  de  la,  Peter,  who  and  what,  256. 

Rupture,  superstitious  cure  for,  161. 

RUSHES  instead  of  candles,  matter  of  much  utility  in  humble  life,  157. 

Rush-burners  and  rush-holders,  159  note. 

Rust  balls,  8. 

RUTLAND,  county  of,  what  rain  fell  there,  113. 

Saffron,  187. 

Sallet,  178. 

Salt  flesh  in  mediaeval  England,  176. 

Sand-martin,  see  Martin. 

Sandpiper,  in  southern  counties,  46 ;  wings  of,  189. 

Sap,  flow  of,  348. 

Saunford,  Robert,  grants  from,  to  Selborne  priory,  271. 

Saxifrage,  opposite  golden,  186. 

Saxon  words  surviving  at  Selborne,  241  note. 

Scale-insects  (Coccus),  208. 

SCALLOPS,  or  pectines,  where  found,  6. 

Scopoli,  J.  A.,  xv,  68,  70,  71,  106,  108 ;  on  martin,  70;  on  woodcock,  70, 

113  ;  on  swift,  150 ;  on  may-fly,  340. 
SCOTLAND,  in  what  its  maps  are  defective,  89. 
Sea-birds,  few  at  Selborne,  25. 

SECTA  MOLENDINI,  claimed  by  the  prior  of  Selborne,  310. 
SEDGE-BIRD  [Sedge-warbler],  some  particulars  about,  55,  59;  more  account 

of,  82 ;  a  delicate  polyglot,  101,  106. 
the  lesser  reed-sparrow  of  Ray,  59,  61 ;  a  summer  migrant,  94 ;  sings 

in  the  night,  82,  96  ;  sings  till  July,  98  ;  a  soft-billed  bird,  106. 
Sedgwick  on  food  of  woodcock,  101  note. 
Seeds,  dormant,  351. 
Serrated  claw  of  nightjar,  77. 
SELBORNE  PARISH,  its  situation  and  abuttals,  i ;  village,  how  circumstanced, 

2  ;  the  manor  of,  abounds  with  game,  9  ;  parish  of,  of  vast  extent,  why, 

9 ;    rain,    quantity   of,    considerable,   why,  9 ;    population,   births   and 

burials  of,  10  ;  produces  near  half  the  birds  of  Great  Britain,  86 ;  why  a 

Saxon  village,  241  ;  becomes  a  market  town,  265. 
its  variety  of  soil  and  elevation,  xxvi ;  its  seclusion,  xxvi ;  its  geology. 

xxvii ;  White's  History  of,  xxix. 

Priory,  see  Priory. 

Lord,  on  Romano-British  antiquities  of  Selborne,  240  note,  317  note* 

Seleburn,  260. 


380  INDEX 

Senegal,  swallows  in,  80. 

Sexes  of  birds  hard  to  distinguish  in  first  plumage,  107. 

"  Shakey  "  timber,  3. 

SHARP,  JOHN,  appointed  prior,  297. 

alias  Glastenbury,  prior  of  Selborne,  298,  299,  301,  308. 

SHEEP,  SUSSEX,  horned  and  hornless,  133. 

close  grazers,  16 ;  when  intent  on  grazing,  119 ;  flocking  together,  155  ; 

tear  their  coats  in  mild  winters,  333  ;  confusion  among,  after  shearing, 

333- 
SHINGLES,  Selborne  church  mostly  covered  with,  249. 

on  roofs,  308  note. 

Shore,  T.  W.,  on  dew-ponds,  166  note,  167  note. 

Short  Heath,  17. 

Shrew-ash,  161. 

Shrike,  great  grey,  in  Tisted  park,  79  ;  red-backed,  its  food,  46 ;  a  rare  bird 

at  Selborne,  80  ;  woodchat,  60  note. 
Shrubs,  protection  of,  from  frost,  222. 
Siberian  plants  cultivated  in  England,  223. 
Side-fly,  127. 
Silk-tail,  27,  96. 
Siskin,  name  of,  in  note. 
Skunk,  59. 
Skylark,  sings  early  and  late,  97  ;  sings  as  it  flies,  99  ;  dusting  and  washing 

of,  109,  116;  its  movements  while  singing,  189;  in  severe  weather,  321. 
SLUGS,1  very  injurious  to  wheat  just  come  out  of  the  ground,  by  eating  off 

the  blade  ;  and  by  their  infinite  numbers  occasioning  incredible  havock, 

173- 

Smell,  animals  recognised  by,  333. 
Smiters,  a  kind  of  pigeon,  188. 
Smother-flies  (aphides),  210,  231. 
Snails  and  slugs,  345. 
SNAKE,  stinks  se  defendendo,  59. 

eat  once  in  the  year,  42  ;  common  in  water,  42  ;  its  slough,  346. 

SNIPES,  their  piping  and  humming,  23,  38,  81  and  note. 

breeding  of,  23,  96,  188  ;  food  of,  101  ;  make  no  nest,  330. 

Snooke,  Mrs.,  of  Ringmer,  108  note. 

Snow,  heavy  falls  of,  222,  225,  228  ;  a  kindly  meteor  to  vegetation,  222,  225. 

SNOW-FLECK  [Snow-bunting],  sometimes  seen  at  Selborne,  61. 

SOCIALITY  in  the  brute  creation,  instances  of,  155. 

Soft-billed  birds,  food  of,  95  ;  list  of  such  as  stay  with  us  the  year  round,  95. 

Solstices,  winter  and  summer,  193. 

Somercotes,  Thomas,  303. 

Song  and  incubation  of  birds,  100;  of  birds,  due  to  rivalry,  120. 

birds,  come  under  Passeres,  99 :  why  they  cease  to  sing,  105. 

thrush  breeds  early,  99  ;  suffers  by  frost,  104. 

South  Badeisley,  270. 
South  Downs,  132. 

1  For  the  amazing  ravages  committed  on  turnips,  wheat,  clover,  field  cabbage- 
seeds,  etc. ,  by  slugs,  and  a  rational  and  easy  method  of  destroying  them,  see  a 
sensible  letter  by  Mr.  Henry  Vagg,  of  Chilcompton,  in  the  county  of  Somerset, 
lately  made  public  at  the  request  of  the  gentlemen  of  that  neighbourhood. — G.  W. 


INDEX  381 

Southington,  or  Sudington,  270,  271. 

Sow,  prodigious  fecundity  of  one,  170. 

Sparrow,  hedge,  flirt  with  their  wings  in  breeding-time,  83 ;  their  piping 
noise,  83  ;  their  food,  87. 

house,  building  of,  84 ;  dusts  and  washes,  109  ;  expelled  by  swift,  expels 

martins,  145. 

hawk  breeds  in  old  crows'  nests,  83  ;  nest  and  larder  of,  go ;  and  brood- 
hens,  192. 

Sphinx  ocellata,  340. 

Spider,  threads  emitted  by,  154;  and  ichneumon,  341. 

Spires,  necessary  ingredients  in  an  elegant  landscape,  50. 

Sprat  loons,  327. 

Spring  Gardens,  exhibition  of  birds  in,  24. 

Spring  of  1739-40,  106  ;  of  1770-71,  136. 

Springs  at  Selborne,  2. 

Sprout-cale,  177. 

Spurge  laurel,  186. 

Squirrel,  its  mode  of  opening  a  nut,  214 ;  suckled  by  a  cat,  334. 

Stag-hunt  in  Wolmer-forest,  14. 

Starlings  and  rooks,  120;  and  lapwings,  120;  flight  of,  188. 

Stawel,  Lord,  19. 

Stepe,  or  Stype,  John,  284 ;  prior  of  Selborne,  288 ;  death  of,  290. 

Stephen  de  Lucy,  259. 

Stickleback  at  Selborne,  25  ;  species  of,  43. 

Stillingfleet,  xv  ;  on  wheatear,  30. 

Stilt,  black-winged,  or  stilt  plover,  202. 

Stock-dove,  mode  of  life  of,  80,  91 ;  appears  late,  96, 117 ;  formerly  abounded 
at  Selborne,  117. 

STONE,  free,  its  uses  and  advantages,  7 ;  rag,  its  qualities  and  uses,  7  ;  sand, 
or  forest,  8 ;  yellow  or  rust  colour,  8. 

Stone-chatter,  though  a  soft-billed  bird,  stays  with  us  round  the  year,  81,  95  ; 
common  along  the  coast  in  autumn,  in. 

STONE  CURLEW,  some  account  of,  35  ;  farther  account  of,  72. 

protective  resemblance  of,  xxiii,  36  ;  a  summer  migrant,  38,  72,  94  ; 

congregates  in  vast  flocks  in  autumn,  47 ;  egg  of,  59 ;  clamouring  of, 
63  ;  in  Andalusia,  73  ;  note  of,  219,  328 ;  habits  of,  328. 

Stonehenge,  jackdaws  nesting  in,  48. 

Sropyrj  OF  ANIMALS,  several  instances  of,  123. 

Storm-cock  (missel-thrush),  80. 

Stratfield,  William,  293,  295. 

Stratford,  bishop  of  Winchester,  275. 

Stretford,  alias  Paynell,  William,  291. 

Stuart,  Sir  Simeon,  gives  a  bell  to  Selborne  church,  248. 

Stubb,  Laurence,  307. 

SUDINGTON,  a  preceptory,  269. 

Summer  birds  of  passage,  lists  of,  37,  94. 

SUMMERS,  1781  and  1783,  unusually  sultry,  230. 

Sun-dews,  185. 

Sunday,  ancient  deeds  dated  on,  274  note. 

Superstitions,  161. 

Surbedding  of  stone,  7. 

Sussex,  Downs  of,  2,  no,  132  ;  meanly  furnished  with  churches,  49  ;  sheep  of, 
133- 


382  INDEX 

SWALLOW,  the  house  or  chimney,  a  monography  of,  136,  151 ;  more  particu- 
lars about,  216. 

supposed  torpidity  of,  21,  22,  114,  121,  174;  young  broods  of,  22; 

migration  of,  22,  30,  38,  53,  77,  94,  in,  136,  331 ;  retiring  under  water, 
28;  on  the  Thames,  28,  31;  early  arrival  of,  67,  105,  106,  174;  Adan- 
son  on  migration  of,  80 ;  sexes  of,  82  ;  late  song  of,  97,  103  ;  sings  as 
it  flies,  99 ;  number  of  broods  of,  148  ;  flight  of,  189  ;  shrill  alarm  of, 
190;  supposed  attachment  to  water,  215. 

Swallows  increase  as  summer  advances,  101 ;  friendly  interposition  of,  127  ; 
and  swifts,  no  rivalry  between,  108 ;  and  hawk,  123;  and  dipterous 
insects,  127. 

S warn mer dam  on  frogs,  40. 

Swan  turns  white  the  second  year,  and  breeds  the  third,  83  ;  migration  of, 
96,  115  note. 

Sweden,  number  of  birds  in,  86. 

Swedish  name  of  swallow,  136 ;  of  swift,  150. 

SWIFT,  or  black  martin,  a  monography  of,  145 ;  the  same  number  usually 
seems  to  return  to  the  same  place,  182  ;  more  circumstances  about,  207. 

torpidity  of,  21 ;  migration  of,  22,  38,  62,  81,  94;  seen  late  in  August, 

25,  77,  207  ;  flight  and  retreat  of,  56  ;  drinks  on  the  wing,  82  ;  notes  of, 
118  ;  Alpine,  72  and  note,  149  ;  constant  in  number  at  Selborne,  182  ;  flight 
^  of,  189  ;  late  broods  of,  207  ;  and  swallows,  no  rivalry  between,  108. 

Swimming  birds,  form  of,  326. 

Sycamore,  349. 

Sydenmeade,  260. 

Sylvester,  Thomas,  309. 

Tadpoles,  41. 

Tameness  of  birds,  100. 

Taming  of  animals,  50. 

Tan-house  garden,  309. 

Tanner,  Bishop,  on  market  and  fair  of  Selborne,  265  note ;  on  Templars'  houses 

in  Hampshire,  270  ;  his  Notitia  Monastica,  311. 
Tanner's  Wood,  309  note. 
Tannery  at  Selborne  Priory,  309. 
Taylor,  Christopher,  vicar  of  Selborne,  256. 
TEALS,  where  bred,  13,  17,  82,  96,  125. 
Teasel,  small,  186. 

Temperatures,  low,  at  Selborne,  224,  229. 
TEMPLE,  a  manor-house  so  called,  described,  263,  267. 

oaks  of,  3  ;  places  so  named,  270  note ;  manor  of,  272  ;  farm  of,  316. 

Tench,  18. 

"  Tenpenny  nails  "  in  walls,  8. 

Thames,  sand-martins  on,  142 ;  frozen  over  in  1776,  227. 

Thaws  originate  underground,  224,  354 ;  rapid,  227,  354. 

Thermometer,  insufficiently  graduated,  229 ;  valuable  information  given  by, 

230. 

Thompson  on  food  of  woodcock,  101  note. 
Thomson's  Seasons  quoted,  18. 
THRUSH,  MISSEL,  very  fierce  and  pugnacious,  151. 
its  fight  with  magpies,  152  ;    shy  and  wild,  yet  builds  in  frequented 

spots,  152  and  note  ;  its  food,  322. 


INDEX  383 

Thrush,  song,  feeds  on  cuckoo-pint,  34 ;  and  snails,  322 ;  sings  in  autumn, 
83,  97  ;  soon  fails  in  severe  frost,  104  ;  and  kestrel,  123. 

Thunderstorms,  234. 

Tiled  house,  the  first  at  Nottingham,  308  note. 

Tiles,  when  first  used  for  roofing,  308  note. 

TIMBER,  a  large  fall  of,  in  the  Holt-forest,  20. 

good  soil  for,  3  ;  tipulae,  343. 

Titlark,  song  of,  80 ;  sings  after  midsummer,  97  ;  sings  as  it  flies,  99  ;  breeds 
late,  100 ;  sings  in  the  night,  when  caged,  101 ;  common  along  the  coast 
in  autumn,  in  ;  its  flight  and  song,  189 ;  in  severe  weather,  321. 

TIT-MICE,  their  mode  of  life  and  support,  87. 

mouse,  marsh  and  great,  song  of,  84,  87,  98  ;  resorts  of  different  species 

of,  87  ;  great,  food  of,  88 ;  pulling  straws  by  great,  87,  223. 

Toad,  procreation  of,  39 ;  nourished  with  maggots,  40 ;  venom  of,  40  note ; 
cancer  cured  by,  44,  49  ;  reclaimed,  50. 

Tomb  in  Selborne  church,  244. 

Tooth  wort,  1 86. 

Torpidity,  see  Hibernation. 

Torrets,  17  note. 

TORTOISE,  a  family  one,  in  ;  more  particulars  ot,  122;  farther  circum- 
stances about,  135,  173,  204;  more  remarks  respecting,  205. 

Tortrix,  of  oak,  339. 

TOWER,  the  church,  248 ;  its  bells  tuneable,  248 ;  motto  on  the  treble  bell, 
just  as  it  is  printed,  248. 

TREES,  why  perfect  alembics,  how,  163. 

subterranean,  12 ;  cleft  for  cure  of  ruptured  babes,  161 ;  condensers  of 

vapour,  163  ;  promoters  of  lakes  and  rivers,  163 ;  order  of  losing  their 
leaves,  346  ;  size  of,  347  ;  growth  of,  347. 

Treviranus  on  honey-dew,  232  note. 

Tring,  witches  drowned  at,  161. 

Trotton,  i,  12. 

Trout,  25. 

Trucstede,  308  note. 

True-love,  185. 

Truffle-hunter,  352. 

Truffles,  186. 

Tumblers,  a  kind  of  pigeons,  188. 

TUN-BRIDGE,  by  whom  built,  310. 

Turf,  fairy-rings  in,  353. 

Turkey,  gobbling  of,  191 ;  roosting  of,  323. 

Turnip-fly,  74. 

Turtle-dove,  38. 

Turville,  Thomas,  of  Hawkley,  255. 

Tutsan,  185. 

Tybbe,  Hugo,  vicar  of  Selborne,  252. 

Tylehouse  grove,  308. 

Tyndall  on  weather  and  sound,  180  note. 

Valencia,  sand-martins  in,  144. 
Vasci,  Americus  de,  272. 
Vegetables,  effect  of  upon  health,  176. 
VICARAGE  OF  SELBORNE,  some  account  of,  252. 


384  INDEX 

VICARS  OF  SELBORNE,  a  list  of,  252. 

VIPER,  blind-worm,  and  snake,  some  account  of,  41. 

VIPER,  pregnant  one,  some  circumstances  about,  168. 

venom  of,  41 ;  eggs  of,  42  ;  said  to  admit  her  young  into  her  throat,  42  ; 

fangs  of,  169. 
Virgil  on  bees  drinking,  82  ;  on  dove,  93  ;  on  climate  of  Italy,  105  ;  on  swallow, 

136,  140 ;  on  sounds  injurious  to  bees,  180. 
Virgins  commemorated  by  garlands,  244. 

VISITATIO  NOTABILIS  OB  SELEBURNE,  a  curious  document  abridged,  277. 
Volcanic  eruptions  and  haze,  233  note. 
Volcano  formed  in  1783,  233. 

Wade,  General,  roads  of,  89. 

Wagtails,  with  us  in  winter,  30,  81,  87  ;  haunts  and  food  of,  in  winter,  87,  95  ; 

their  walk,  189  ;  and  cows,  332. 
Wakes,  the,  at  Selborne,  ix. 

WALDON-LODGE,  what,  and  by  whom  kept  up,  17. 
Waller  of  Beaconsfield,  a  promoter  of  horticulture,  177. 
Walpole,  Horace,  xxiv. 
Walter  de  Insula,  276. 
WALTHAM  BLACKS  much  .infested  Wolmer-forest,  14;  by  their  enormities 

occasioned  the  black  act,  15. 

chase,  15. 

Walwort,  186. 

Warble,  328. 

Warbler,  see  Grasshopper  lark  and  Sedge-bird. 

Ward-le-ham,  i,  266  note;  King  John  at,  242;  park,  17. 

Warton,  Rev.  Thomas,  XP;  Joseph  and  Thomas,  xi. 

Washing  of  birds,  109,  138,  144. 

Wasps,  a  pest  in  gardens,  231 ;  and  fowls,  321 ;  habits  of,  341. 

Wastes,  of  service  to  neighbourhood,  16. 

Watch-lights,  158. 

Water,  cattle  frequenting,  18 ;  condensed  by  trees,  163  ;  eft,  44;  ouzel,  no; 

rat,  62  ;  shrew,  62  ;  vole,  23. 
Waterford,  Henry,  263. 
Waverley,  sand-martin  at,  330. 
Waxwing,  27,  96. 
WAYNFLETE,  WILLIAM  OF,  endeavours  to  reform  the  Priory  of  Selborne,  288  ; 

dissolves  it,  301. 
founds  Magdalen  College,  Oxford,  301 ;  death  of,  306 ;  obits  ordained 

by,  307- 

Weasel  (cane),  34  ;  preys  on  moles,  83. 

Weather,  its  effect  upon  sounds,  180 ;  and  corn,  355  ;  at  Selborne,  222. 
Weaver's  down,  8. 
Weevils,  337  note. 

WELL-HEAD,  a  fine  perennial  spring,  2,  241. 
WELLS,  their  usual  depth  in  Selborne  village,  3. 
Welsh  name  of  missel-thrush,  152. 
Weston,  Thomas,  prior  of  Selborne,  284. 
WHADDON  CHAPEL,  where,  309. 
[WHAME,  see  Fly.] 
Wheat-crops  and  hot  summers,  352. 


INDEX  385 

WHEATEAR,  the  bird  so  called,  some  account  of,  30 ;  Sussex  bird,  so  called, 

more  particulars  of,  134. 
migration  of,  31 ;  said  to  stay  with  us  the  whole  year,  81  and  note,  95  ; 

in  winter,  88 ;  common  along  the  coast  in  autumn,  in. 
Wheaten  bread,  177. 
Whinchat  stays  with  us  all  the  year,  81,  88,  95  ;  common  along  the  coast  in 

autumn,  in. 

White,  malm,  3  ;  hares,  61 ;  rooks,  34. 
White,  Ann,  x. 

Benjamin,  v. 

Rev.  Charles,  x. 

Gilbert,  vicar  of  Selborne,  ix,  x,  254  ;  his  epitaph,  246. 

Gilbert,  the  naturalist,  his  birth,  ix;  at  school,  xi,  314  ;  at  Oxford,  xi; 

as  a  clergyman,  xi ;  origin  of  his  taste  for  natural  history,  xii ;  his  notes 

and  diaries,  xiii ;  books  used  by,  xv ;  quotation  by,  xv ;  his  history  of 

Selborne,  xxi ;  his  death,  xxi ;  his  person  and  habits,  xxi ;  his  merit  as 

a  naturalist,  xxii ;  little  interested  in  current  events,  xxiv  ;  charm  of  his 

history,  xxv ;  his  view  of  the  migration  of  birds,  xxxi ;  his  preface  to  the 

History  of  Selborne,  xxxix ;  his  deafness,  152. 

Rev.  Henry,  x. 

John,  father  of  Gilbert  White,  the  naturalist,  ix,  256 ;  repairs  roads  at 

Selborne,  255. 

Rev.  John,  x,  123,  145,  190,  204;  on  coccus  of  the  vine,  209. 

Rebecca,  x. 

Sampson,  ix. 

Thomas  Holt,  x. 

William,  vicar  of  Selborne,  253. 

of  Newton,  326. 

WHITE-THROAT,  some  particulars  about,  85. 

a  summer  migrant,  38,  94  ;  late  return  of,  67  ;  notes  of,  85  ;  sings  after 

midsummer,  98,  103  ;  sings  as  it  flies,  99 ;  ill-provided  for  long  flights, 

134 ;  its  gestures,  189 ;  supposed,  215  note. 
Whortleberry,  185. 
WiclifTe's  doctrines,  287. 
Widgeon,  a  winter-migrant,  96. 
Wildman,  a  noted  bee-master,  160  note. 
Willow- wrens,  23,  35  ;  three  species  of,  36  ;  how  distinguished,  45  ;  summer 

migrants,  38,  94  ;  silent  at  midsummer,  98  ;  nest  of,  124. 
Willughby,  Francis,  xiii,  xiv,  xv ;  on  migration  of  birds,  xxxiv ;  visits  Anda- 
lusia, 31  ;  on  sand-martins  in  Spain,  144. 
WINCHESTER,  HOADLY,  BISHOP   OF,  his  humane   objection   to   restocking 

Waltham  chase  with  deer,  15. 
Norman  kings  resided  much  at,  242 ;  cathedral  of,  243  note ;  feuds 

between  religious  houses  at,  270. 
Winchilsea,  king's  transports  at,  267. 
Wings  of  birds,  various  forms  of,  188. 
Winter,  insects  in,  335  ;  birds  of  passage,  95 ;  of  1739-40,  32,  106,  113  ;  ot 

1767-8,  32. 

Wishanger  common,  sand-martin  on,  331. 
WOLMER,  FOREST  OF,  some  account  of,  12,  19 ;  how  abutted  upon,  12 ;  has 

abounded  with  fossil  trees,  12  ;  haunted  by  many  sorts  of  wild  fowl,  13  ; 

once  abounded  with  heath  cocks,  or  black  game,  13  ;  with  red  deer,  13. 

25 


386  INDEX 

Wolmer  forest,  xxvii,  3 ;  Queen  Anne  in,  14 ;  teal  in  ponds  of,  82  ;  pond,  18  ; 

its  birds,  19  ;  coins  found  in,  19,  239. 
WOOD,  fossil,  where  found,  219. 

LOSEL'S,  its  taper  oaks,  4;  its  raven-tree,  5. 

boring  insects,  336. 

Woodchat  shrike,  60. 

WOODCOCKS,  some  sluggish  and  sleepy,  116,  119. 

carrying  of  young  by,  70 ;  winter  migrants,  96  ;  food  of,  101  note  ;  retire 

in  spring,  112;  nesting  and  breeding  of,  113  ;  migration  of,  115,  116. 
Woodlark  hangs  poised  in  the  air,  57,  189 ;  sings  in  autumn  and  January, 

83,  97,  103  ;  sings  in  the  night,  96  ;  sings  as  it  flies,  99. 
Woodpecker,  noise  of,  38,  190  ;  flight  of,  188 ;  uses  its  tail  for  support,  188. 
Wood-pigeon,  see  Stock-dove. 
Wood-wren,  its  haunts  and  song,  22  ;  a  summer  migrant,  38,  94  ;  late  arrival 

of,  67  ;  its  song,  99. 

Woods,  Henry,  of  Shopwyke,  x ;  John,  of  Chilgrove,  xxiii. 
Worldham,  see  Ward-le-ham. 
WORMS,  earth,  no  inconsiderable  link  in  the  chain  of  nature,  some  account 

of,  172. 

Wornils  (maggots  of  Warble-fly),  329. 
Wren,  though  a  soft-billed  bird,  stays  with  us  all  the  year,  95  ;  sings  all  the 

year,  84  note,  97,  100,  103  ;  sings  as  it  flies,  99  ;  nest  of,  214. 
golden-crowned,  hangs  back  downwards,  39 ;  stays  with  us  the  year 

round,  95  ;  hardly  to  be  called  a  singing  bird,  98 ;  the  smallest  British 

bird,  100. 

WRENS,  willow,  three  species,  36,  45. 

Wryneck,  a  summer  migrant,  38,  86,  94 ;  its  note,  94  ;  gait  and  food  of,  332. 
Wych  elm  or  hazel,  4. 
WYKEHAM,  WILLIAM  OF,  his  liberal  behaviour  toward  the  Priory  of  Sel- 

borne,  282. 
and  Winchester  cathedral,  243  note;  his  visitation  of  Selborne  Priory, 

276. 
WYNCHESTRE,  JOHN,  chosen  Prior  of  Selborne,  "  per  viam,  vel  formam 

simplicis  compromissi,"  284. 
WYNDESOR,  WILLIAM,  elected  Prior  of  Selborne  irregularly,  and  set  aside  by 

the  visitor,  293. 
291,  294. 

YARD,  church,  of  Selborne,  a  scanty  one,  249. 

Year,  Natural  History  of  the,  235. 

Yellow- wort,  185. 

Yellowhammer,  sings  from  February  to  August,  97 ;  breeds  very  late,  100. 

YEOMAN-PRICKERS,  their  agility  as  horsemen,  14. 

Yew-branches  carried  on  Palm  Sunday,  252. 

YEW-TREE,  a  vast  one,  in  Selborne  churchyard,  250. 

male  and  female,  250 ;  poisonous  to  certain  animals,  250. 

Yew-trees  in  churchyards,  251. 


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By  JONATHAN  SWIFT.      Edited  by  G.  A.  AITKEN,  M.A. 

THE  NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  SELBORNE. 

By  GILBERT  WHITE.      Edited  by  L.  C.  MIALL,  F.R.S. 

LORD     CHESTERFIELD'S    LETTERS    TO    HIS 
SON 

Edited  by  CHARLES  STRACHEY  and  A.  CALTHROP.      2  vols. 

THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION 

By  THOMAS  CARLYLE.      Edited  by  C.  R.  L.  FLETCHER,  M.A.,  Fellow 
of  Magdalen  College,  Oxford.     2  vols. 

TO  BE   FOLLOWED   BY: 
THE  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  JOHNSON,  LL.D. 

By  JAMES  BOSWELL.    Edited  by  T.  SECCOMBE.     3  vols. 
THE  WEALTH  OF  NATIONS. 

By  ADAM  SMITH.     Edited  by  EDWIN  CANNAN,  M.A.     2  vols. 

CRITICAL    AND    HISTORICAL    ESSAYS   BY 
LORD  MACAULAY. 

Edited  by  F.  C.  MONTAGUE,  M.A.     3  vols. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  THE  FIFTH. 

By  WILLIAM  ROBERTSON,  D.D.    Edited  by  MARTIN  A.  S.  HUME,  M.A. 

LETTERS  AND  SPEECHES  OF  OLIVER  CROM- 
WELL. 

By  THOMAS  CARLYLE.      Edited  by  S.  C.  LOMAS,  with  an  introduction 
by  C.  H.  FIRTH,  M.A.     3  vols. 


THE   LIFE  AND  WORKS  OF  CHARLES  LAMB. 

Edited  by  E.  V.  LUCAS.     5  vols. 

THE  BIOGRAPHIA  LITERARIA  OF  S.  T.  COLE- 
RIDGE. 

Edited  by  T.  HUTCHINSON. 

THE  ANALOGY  OF  RELIGION. 

By  JOSEPH  BUTLER,   D.D.      Edited  by  H.   H.   WILLIAMS,   M.A., 
Fellow  and  Lecturer  of  Hertford  College,  Oxford. 

THE  LEVIATHAN. 

By   THOMAS   HOBBES.       Edited  by  W.    G.    POGSON  SMITH,   M.A., 
Fellow  of  St.  John's  College,  Oxford.     2  vols. 

THE    CONSTITUTIONAL    HISTORY    OF    ENG- 
LAND. 

By  HENRY  HALLAM.     Edited  by  D.  J.  MEDLEY,  M.A.    2  vols. 

THE  WORKS  OF  SIR  PHILIP  SIDNEY 

Edited  by  A.  W.  Pollard,  M.A. 

THE  POEMS  OF  JOHN  MILTON. 

Edited  by  H.  C.  BEECHING,  M.A.     2  vols. 

THE  POEMS  OF  PERCY  BYSSHE  SHELLEY. 

Edited  by  A.  C.  BRADLEY,  M.A. 

THE  POEMS  OF  JOHN  KEATS. 

Edited  by  E.  DE  SELINCOURT,  M.A. 

THE  POEMS  OF  WILLIAM  WORDSWORTH. 

Edited  by  No  WELL  C.  SMITH,  M.A. 

THE   POEMS  AND  LETTERS  OF  WILLIAM 
COWPER. 

Edited  by  J.  C.  BAILEY,  M.A: 

THE  EARLY  POEMS  OF  ROBERT  BROWNING. 

Edited  by  H.  C.  BEECHING  and  C.  GRIFFIN. 

THE  POEMS  OF  EDMUND  SPENSER. 

Edited  by  HAROLD  LITTLEDALE. 


A   Uniform  Edition  of  the 

Works  of  George  Borrow 

Illustrated.    Octavo,  per  vol.,  $2.00 

A  new  and  popular  edition,  containing  the  authorized  and  complete  texts, 
and  including  certain  suppressed  material  now  printed  for  the  first  time,  and 
with  notes,  etc.,  by  WILLIAM  I.  KNAPP,  author  of  "The  Life  of  George 
Borrow."  The  volumes  are  : 

The  Bible  in  Spain      Romany  Rye 
Lavengro  The  Gypsies  of  Spain 

Wild  Wales 

5  vols.  in  a  box.     Illustrated.     Svo,  per  set,  $10.00 

The  text  of  these  volumes  reproduces  with  fidelity  the  first  issues  of  1851  and 
1857,  with  the  addition  of  certain  suppressed  incidents,  in  the  case  of  the 
"  Lavengro."  This  is  the  first  uniform  edition  of  Borrow's  works  to  appear 
in  this  country,  and  the  fact  that  they  are  to  be  edited  by  the  famous  Scholar 
Gypsy's  biographer,  Prof.  W.  I.  Knapp,  is  sufficient  criterion  of  their  excel- 
lence. Each  volume  is  illustrated  throughout  with  etchings  and  other  repro- 
ductions of  places  mentioned  in  the  text.  No  Borrowite  can  be  content,  and 
no  lover  of  original  literature  should  be  content,  not  to  know  Borrow  in  these 
editions. 

The  Life,  Writings,  and  Correspondence  of 

George  Borrow 

Author  of  "The  Bible  in  Spain,"  "Lavengro,"  etc. 
l803-l88l 

Based  on  official  and  other  authentic  sources 

By  William  I.  Knapp,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 

Late  of  Yale  and  Chicago  Universities 

Two  volumes.     Illustrated.     Svo       ....        $6.00 
New  York  Q.  P.  Putnam's  Sons  London 


ST' 


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Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


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